OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2015. Tracker funds traded on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) are known as Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs. These funds generally aim to track indices like the Straits Times Index (STI) or assets such as bonds. This means that by investing in ETFs, you are effectively investing in the price movements of the component stocks in the underlying asset class.

Take the SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF for instance. The underlying assets that this ETF tracks comprise 30 of the largest capitalised and most liquid stocks on the SGX. The ETF seeks to generate returns that closely correspond to the performance of the STI. According to SPDR®, the SPDR® STI ETF has generated annualised returns of 8.1% for investors over the past 10 years ending 31 December 2014 (click here to view more).

Investors may wish to access the SGX website – click here – for more information on ETFs. On 6 May 2015, SGX Academy will be providing a complementary course that explains the uses and portfolio application of ETFs - please click here to register interest.

Ten Most Active ETFs

The 10 most active ETFs by turnover have averaged 12.3% gain in the year-to-date, bringing their average one-year total return to 34.1%. The median return of the 10 ETFs is 9.2%, and YTD returns range from 2.2% to 27.9%. Eight of the ten ETFs track equity, while SPDR® Gold Shares tracks a commodity and iShares Asia High Yield Bond tracks fixed income. 

With the exception of SPDR® Gold Shares, the most active ETFs have underlying assets that are widely diverse in terms of geography – Asia Pacific, China, India, Indonesia, and Singapore. Three of the 10 most active ETFs – db x-trackers CSI 300 UCITS ETF, United SSE50 China ETF, and db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF track indexes that are listed in China, while two ETFs – SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF are listed in Singapore.

The most active ETF – iShares MSCI India Index ETF – tracks the MSCI India index. It was listed in 2006 and trades in US dollars. The fund manager is BlackRock Singapore (Ltd).

Details of the 10 most active ETFs are below. Note that the list below is sorted according to turnover.

Counter Name Stock Code Category % YTD Return % Total Return 1Y % Total Return 3Y % Total Return 5Y
ISHARES MSCI INDIA INDEX ETF I98 Equity 11.9 30.7 40.1 6.6
SPDR® STRAITS TIMES INDEX ETF ES3 Equity 5.3 11.1 23.2 35.3
SPDR® GOLD SHARES O87 Commodity 2.2 -0.2 -23.1 2.3
DBXT MSCI AC ASIA EX JP IH1 Equity 14.7 19.8 29.4 27.2
ISHARES ASIA HIGH YIELD BOND O9P Fixed Income 6.5 15.7 35.4 -
DBXT CSI 300 KT4 Equity 27.9 100.4 73.4 25.0
NIKKO AM SINGAPORE STI ETF G3B Equity 4.7 11.0 23.6 34.8
UNITED SSE 50 CHINA ETF JK8 Equity 19.7 102.0 73.3 22.1
DBXT MSCI INDONESIA KJ7 Equity 3.9 15.9 6.3 26.6
DBXT MSCI CHINA LG9 Equity 26.7 34.2 43.9 -
Average     12.3 34.1 32.5 22.5

Source: SGX (Data as of 16 April 2015)

Specified Investment Products

As part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) initiative to introduce stronger measures and enhance requirements to further safeguard the interests of individual investors, ETFs have been categorised as Specified Investment Products (SIPs) unless otherwise stated. SGX-SIPs have structures, features and risks that may be more complex in nature. Investors who wish to trade SIPs are required to be pre-qualified by the brokers through the Customer Account Review or take the SGX Online Education Programme.

Of the 10 most active ETFs, SPDR® Straits Times ETF, Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF, and iShares Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF have been classified as Excluded Investment Products (EIPs) (i.e. Non-Specified Investment Products). In other words, investors can trade EIP-ETFs without having to be pre-qualified.