The highly anticipated db X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares Fund (NYSEArca: ASHR) officially debuts today, becoming the first exchange traded fund listed in the U.S. to offer investors direct access to Chinese A-shares.
Deutsche’s partnership with Harvest Fund Management, China’s second-largest asset manager, is a key element in the bank being able to offer an A-shares ETF that holds actual equities. Harvest is a Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII), which means it meets Chinese regulatory requirements to be a foreign owner of A-shares. China’s A-shares trade in Shanghai and Shenzhen. [Exposure to Restricted A-Shares With ETFs]
“As a truly global bank, we are uniquely positioned to provide global access and perspective to U.S. investors,” said Jerry Miller, Head of Asset & Wealth Management Americas, in a statement. “Unprecedented and sophisticated products such as ASHR exemplify our strategic vision for the exchange-traded products business in the Americas.”
ASHR will start with a gross expense ratio of 1.08%, but Deutsche expects that will be reduced as the fund accumulates assets. The new ETF will track the CSI 300 Index, a collection of the large-caps including China Minsheng Banking, China Merchants Bank, Industrial Bank, Ping An Insurance, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Haitong Securities and China Vanke. [Deutsche Offers New Spin on China ETFs]