There was a time when it was difficult for foreign investors to access China’s A-shares equity markets. Exchange traded funds helped change that.
Accessing China’s massive onshore bond market has also been hard to access, but some new U.S.-listed ETFs are changing that as well. With developed market benchmark yields from Germany to the U.S. tumbling, now could be the time for bond investors to consider allocations to ETFs such as the (NYSEArca: CBON).
Chinese monetary policy also serves as a fine backstop for CBON and rivals, such as the KraneShares E Fund China Commercial Paper ETF (NYSEArca; KCNY) and the Global X GF China Bond ETF (NYSEArca: CHNB).
“The story doesn’t end there. These ETFs may get a further boost in early November, when the InMarket Vectors ChinaAMC China Bond ETF ternational Monetary Fund is expected to announce that the yuan will join the fund’s basket of reserve currencies. According to reports, the IMF is giving strong signals that the yuan will be included, to the point where Chinese officials are said to have prepared celebratory statements,” reports Eric Balchunas for Bloomberg.
KCNY, which launched in December, is off to a fast start with $31 million in assets under management in just two months on the market. KCNY, the first Chinese commercial paper ETF to list in the U.S., features an average maturity of just 128 days and a lineup comprised entirely of investment-grade holdings and tracks the CSI Diversified High Grade Commercial Paper Unhedged Index. [A Better Use of Cash With This ETF]