OREANDA-NEWS. The 10 most active Exchange Traded Funds in the September month-to-date spanned three asset classes – commodities, fixed income and equities. Grabbing the spotlight were gold, Asian bonds, Singapore equities, as well as emerging market stocks in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India and China. (see tables below)

 

Investor interest in equities in recent weeks has been fuelled by the unprecedented loosening of global monetary policy and as the Fed delayed raising rates. The odds of a US interest rate increase at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week stands at 18%, down from 22% at the start of the week, following soft US economic numbers, according to fed fund futures data tracked by Bloomberg. The chance of a rate rise this year has slipped below 50% for the first time in a month. Latest economic data showed that US industrial production shrank more than economists forecast, while retail sales unexpectedly declined for the first time in five months.

Gold has rallied since the start of this year, also buoyed by central bank stimulus and the slower pace of Fed rate hikes. Heightened volatility in global markets, Britain’s vote to exit the European Union on June 23, and the looming US election have also added to demand for bullion as a haven asset. Other lower risk, haven assets such as bonds have also been in focus, given the persistent deflationary backdrop and uncertain global macroeconomic outlook.

In the MTD, these 10 most active ETFs averaged a total return of -1.2%, taking the one-year and three-year total returns to 10.5% and 22.1% respectively. The three best performers in terms of MTD total returns were db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR), SPDR® Gold Shares ETF and iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF.

The above-mentioned ETFs saw a 10.3% YoY increase in turnover for the month, increasing from S$76.9 million in September 2015 to S$84.8 million in the same period this year. This brings the total 12-month turnover to S$1.9 billion.

The 10 most active ETFs in September 2016 are detailed below in Singapore dollars and sorted by MTD turnover.

Names

MTD Turnover 2016

MTD Turnover 2015

YTD Turnover 2016

12M Turnover

YTD Turnover 2015

iShares MSCI India Index ETF

20,486,891

36,262,734

276,303,171

423,380,397

437,288,925

SPDR® Gold Shares ETF

14,910,803

12,465,020

539,334,321

663,732,531

345,200,957

SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF

14,543,633

13,425,515

269,556,722

345,566,041

323,748,566

db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF

11,098,356

3,346,099

88,518,585

108,314,452

58,815,007

db x-trackers MSCI Thailand Index UCITS ETF (DR)

6,894,172

1,411,195

54,450,076

61,561,137

28,197,443

iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF

5,191,750

4,817,201

85,675,358

106,018,228

73,696,824

db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR)

3,708,054

4,222,980

42,742,201

68,074,677

59,791,286

db x-trackers MSCI Philippines IM Index UCITS ETF (DR)

2,909,300

46,029

17,276,233

18,464,102

4,898,469

iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF

2,636,697

530,894

68,870,242

113,893,231

32,795,438

db x-trackers MSCI India Index UCITS ETF

2,469,168

416,000

9,462,498

11,003,418

8,002,167

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 15 September 2016)