OREANDA-NEWS. September 16, 2015. In the September 2015 month thus far, the MSCI World Index has declined 1.0%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.0%. The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index captures large- and mid-cap representation across five developed markets and eight emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region. It comprises 1,000 stocks with Japan, Australia and China as its largest country weightings.

On the economic front, China’s exports declined in August, signalling weak consumption trends in both US and Europe, while its official factory gauge slumped to its lowest reading in three years. Japan’s economy shrank less than estimated in the last quarter, with retail sales rising for the fourth straight month in July, but industrial output and household spending fell unexpectedly.

Meanwhile, the US jobs market remains resilient, with the jobless rate falling to its lowest since April 2008, according to data released last week. Fed policy makers meeting next week to decide the timing of a rate hike will have to weigh robust domestic employment conditions against the recent turmoil in financial markets and deteriorating growth prospects for emerging economies.

Singapore’s 10 most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) during the same period were the iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF, db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR), iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF, db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF, db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF, db x-trackers CSI 300 UCITS ETF and db x-trackers CNX Nifty UCITS ETF.

These 10 most active ETFs averaged a negative 1.6% price return, with a negative 12-month total return of 10.8%, bringing their average annualised three-year total return to 0.7%.

Total turnover for these 10 ETFs in the month-to-date also increased 13.3% to S\\$9.61 million, compared with S\\$8.49 million in the year-ago period. The three most active ETFS over the first eight sessions of September were iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares and  SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF.

The 10 most active ETFs in the September 2015 month to date are detailed below and sorted by MTD total return.

Name Stock
Code		 Price MTD Turnover
2015 (\\$)		 MTD Turnover
2014 (\\$)		 12M
Turnover (\\$)
iShares MSCI India Index ETF I98 6.68 4330655.97 1477590.51 2691654.20
SPDR® Gold Shares O87 106.05 1351236.43 5394179.41 2148291.25
SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF ES3 2.94 1224474.56 295331.25 1493284.96
db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) HD8 29.3 713393.56 48335.63 294328.10
iShares Barclays Capital USD
Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF		 O9P 10.12 530766.67 292291.12 338174.85
db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR) LG9 12.19 438014.26 6372.07 268152.99
db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF KJ7 10.3 358985.23 223161.12 380105.91
db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF HD9 23.29 256045.35 442352.32 212341.73
db x-trackers CSI 300 UCITS ETF KT4 8.91 229804.53 242494.04 466030.44
db x-trackers CNX Nifty UCITS ETF HE0 119.36 178991.34 63775.58 67316.05

Source: SGX (data as of 10 September 2015)

Name Stock
Code		 Total Return
MTD		 Total return
12M		 3 Year Total Return
Annualized		 3 Year
Total Return		 30 day
Volatility
iShares MSCI India Index ETF I98 -3.2 -13.1 4.0 19.7 27.1
SPDR® Gold Shares O87 -2.2 -12.2 -14.9 -35.5 13.5
SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF ES3 -1.0 -10.5 0.9 4.3 21.2
db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) HD8 0.8 -13.2 3.9 17.6 37.8
iShares Barclays Capital USD
Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF		 O9P -0.8 -1.6 4.0 13.8 8.3
db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR) LG9 0.2 -12.8 3.8 16.3 36.6
db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF KJ7 -6.9 -31.6 -11.9 -29.4 44.7
db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF HD9 0.0 -23.5 3.4 10.0 29.9
db x-trackers CSI 300 UCITS ETF KT4 -0.1 23.5 9.0 28.1 56.2
db x-trackers CNX Nifty UCITS ETF HE0 -2.4 -12.9 5.0 22.2 29.3
Average   -1.6 -10.8 0.7 6.7 30.5

Source: SGX (data as of 10 September 2015)

ETFs are investment funds listed and traded intraday on a stock exchange. The majority aim to track the performance of an index and provide access to a wide variety of markets and asset classes, including local stocks, international securities, bonds, commodities or money markets.

Each ETF gives investors access to the performance of the asset that comprises the underlying index. Investing in the ETF is also less costly if one was to build a similar portfolio by buying the individual stocks. It also provides exposure to international markets and asset classes that may be inaccessible to individual investors.