Not surprisingly, given recent volatility in the China equity space, FXI (iShares China Large Cap, Expense Ratio 0.74%) has been extraordinarily active as has its listed options.
Recently we saw decent sized activity in July 42 calls in FXI which are at-the-money options, accompanied by recent outflows in the product to the tune of about $370 million via redemptions since the first of July.
This still has not changed the supremacy of FXI in terms of the China Equity ETF space here in the U.S., as the fund has north of $7.1 billion in assets under management. However, today we would like to focus on two newcomers to the China Equity ETF space that have made a mark in short order as they could not have been better timed to market. CHAD (Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bear 1X, Expense Ratio 0.80%) has gathered more than $194 million in assets since its June 17, 2015 inception date while CHAU (Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X, Expense Ratio 0.95%) has raised more than $93 million since April 16, 2015.
It is important to distinguish that CHAU is a levered Bull fund which intends to deliver twice the daily return of the CSI 300 Index, which measures the China “A” Share market and is becoming a rather well known and recognized index at this point, especially given the immense investment interest and recent volatility in China amid the stock market dislocation there, trading halts, and otherwise.
CHAD on the other hand does not incorporate leverage, but is intended to be a potential hedge to portfolios weighted toward the China “A” Share market, if not an outright bearish way to play the space without daily leverage.
In any case, the two funds have proven popular in short order judging from the climbing trading volume and asset flows, which obviously have a good deal to do with the recent turmoil, met with snapback rally in the Chinese equity market.