It isn’t only in the United States that the exchange traded fund (ETF) market is expanding. Asian countries are also growing out their lines of offered ETFs to provide investors with access to new areas of the markets and their economies heat up.
Korea and Japan recently launched four more ETFs that track the U.S., Hong Kong and India’s indexes, writes Cris Sholto Heaton for IndexUniverse. Axis bank and insurer Birla Sun Life are also looking to launch new gold ETFs in India’s market.
So far, China is a laggard in the ETF game, but the country recently gave local investors access to the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme that provides exposure to foreign bonds.
Thailand now offers exchange-traded interest rate futures on five-year Thai government bonds. Additionally, the country may begin trading in real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Growth in the Asian ETF industry comes at a heady time for the region. Economic growth in most areas is solid, while a growing middle class and a youthful population is spending its newfound cash.
- iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (NYSEArca: THD)
- iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSEArca: EWY)
- iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (NYSEArca: EWJ)
- PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN)
Shares in Hong Kong and Malaysia rose on news of Singapore’s attempted bid of $8.3 billion for the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in an attempt to stay up-to-date in electronic trading venues.
U.S. investors have stashed away $45 billion in mutual funds, hedge funds and ETFs that invest in emerging market equities, with China being a key component, this year through Sept. 22, reports Matt Krantz for USA Today. If you want to invest in emerging markets, may do so with a country-specific ETF or a broader ETF that holds a basket of emerging countries. [How to Choose Among the Many China ETFs.]
- iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (NYSEArca: FXI)
In China, manufacturing jumped at its fastest pace in six months for October and domestic consumption is on the rise, which are mitigating fears that the global recovery is slowing, reports Don Miller for Daily Markets. China stated that the economy expanded 9.6% in the third quarter year-over-year. Though the fast growth in China should help its neighbors, the carryover may not be as strong as years past since more growth is coming out of China’s domestic consumption.
For more information on Asia, visit our Asia category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.