Despite its developed market status and AAA-credit rating, Singapore has been passed over by investors amid fears of an over-heating property market and stagnant economic growth.
The trend of investors ignoring the city-state’s equities is reversing, but there is a catch. “Ten exchange-traded funds that track Singapore saw about $338 million of net inflows in the first six weeks of this quarter following five quarters of outflows,” Bloomberg reports, citing Markit data.
The catch is that while the aforementioned ETFs, comprise of seven equity-based funds with bonds and cash funds making up the rest, according to Bloomberg, are hauling in cash, U.S.-listed Singapore ETFs are not among that group.
Since the start of the third quarter, the iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (NYSEArca: EWS) has lost $41.7 million in assets while investors have pulled nearly $3 million from the iShares MSCI Singapore Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: EWSS).
EWS is up just 7.6% this year compared to a gain of 11.3% for the iShares MSCI Pacific ex Japan ETF (NYSEArca: EPP). [A Singapore ETF Slump]
That after 2013, a year in which Singapore’s benchmark Straits Times Index was the worst performer among developed markets, according to Bloomberg.