Lion Global Investors (LGI) and China Merchants Fund Management (CMF) today announced their collaboration to launch the Lion-China Merchants Emerging Asia Select Index ETF, the world’s first emerging Asia ETF traded in SGD. This ETF is Lion Global Investors’s seventh ETF and marks CMF’s first collaboration with an ETF issuer in Singapore.
Providing investors easy access to emerging Asia economies
The investment objective of the Lion-China Merchants Emerging Asia Select Index ETF seeks to replicate the performance of the iEdge Emerging Asia Select 50 Index by tracking the 50 largest and most tradable companies in four key emerging Asia markets – India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand and providing access to growth in these countries.
According to a June 2024 report by the World Economic Forum, India and Indonesia are emerging as important players in the regional economy and global value chains. With an expected GDP growth of 6.8% this year1, India is at the forefront of Asian growth and is poised to overtake Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2030; while Indonesia’s GDP currently contributes to 40% of ASEAN’s GDP and the country is expected to double its GDP between 2022 and 20322. Malaysia’s economy experienced a growth acceleration in the first half of 2024 underpinned by its strong trade performance and foreign direct investment3 while Thailand is expected to experience a tourism rebound and reach 41.6 million arrivals by 2025, back to its pre-pandemic levels for the first time since Covid4.
The Lion-China Merchants Emerging Asia Select Index ETF counts index constituents such as Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia and India’s HDFC Bank and Thailand’s PTT PCL* among its top constituents (as of October 31, 2024), with larger allocations to sectors like finance, technology and energy. The ETF may appeal to investors who are looking to gain access to these growing markets or sectors within India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Kwok Keng Han, Chief Marketing Officer at Lion Global Investors: “While developed markets often take the Asian spotlight, we are now seeing notable focus on emerging Asia markets and are committed to providing an easier channel for clients to access these markets. The encouraging adoption we see from investors across our range of ETF offerings in the past year underlies the belief that investors see value in cost-efficient, well-designed strategies that combine the best elements of indexing with the potential to achieve better outcomes for well-diversified portfolios.”
Lion Global Investors’ total ETF Assets under Management (AUM) reached the SGD 1 billion mark in 2024 and its ETF business has grown 37% year-to-date as of October 31, 2024. Riding on this growth momentum, the Lion-China Merchants Emerging Asia Select Index ETF will be Lion Global Investors’ third ETF listing in 2024, bringing the total number of ETFs listed on the SGX to seven since entering the ETF space in 2017. With this new ETF, LGI will have the largest number of ETFs on the SGX.
Robust capabilities, blended synergies
With the robust expertise of Lion Global Investors and China Merchants Fund Management in their respective Singapore and China markets, the collaboration aims to drive growth for both companies while delivering value for investors in both markets.
As the asset management arm of China Merchants Group, one of the largest state-owned enterprises in China with diverse business operations, China Merchants Fund Management offers clients investment strategies across mainland China, including mutual funds, pension funds, social security funds and QDII solutions, dedicated to the mission of ‘creating more value for investors’. The company manages the largest CSI A500 ETF listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which is tracking the CSI A500 Index with an AUM of RMB 13.6 billion as of November 15, 2024.
Dr Xu Yong, General Manager, China Merchants Fund Management: “China Merchants Fund Management is pleased to partner with Lion Global Investors, one of Singapore’s leading asset management companies, to provide innovative solutions and offerings to expand investor access to more markets. Through this collaboration, we will be able to offer a new allocation tool for domestic investors, providing scalable solutions and thereby enhancing our service to investors.”
As part of its involvement in the SGX-SSE ETF Product Link, China Merchants Fund Management will reciprocate with the listing of a feeder ETF for the Lion-China Merchants Emerging Asia Select Index ETF on the Shanghai Stock Exchange by March 2025.
About Lion Global Investors
Founded in 1986, Lion Global Investors is a homegrown and one of the leading asset management companies in Singapore dedicated to providing tailored investment solutions for the benefit of its investors.
Working as One Group across ASEAN and Greater China, we embrace the philosophy of managing our client’s assets for the long run and help investors grow their wealth through synergies with OCBC Group and Great Eastern. OCBC is the second-largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets and Great Eastern is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. Backed by a strong local parentage and heritage, combined with the ability to leverage the Group’s resources and connectivity, we are uniquely positioned to deliver best-in-class Asian-centric solutions to our investors.
