CSOP Asset Management has received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) last Friday to launch the CSOP STAR 50 Index ETF, according to the regulator’s records.
The firm expects the ETF to be listed on the local bourse on Wednesday, according to a Hong Kong-based spokesman of the firm. When listed, it will be the first ETF in the territory to track the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR Market) 50 Index.
The ETF has already gathered RMB 100m ($15.5m) in assets during its initial offering period, the spokesman added.
CSOP AM manages 26 ETFs in Hong Kong, 14 of which are leveraged and inverse products.
Besides CSOP AM, Bosera Asset Management in Hong Kong is also expected to offer a STAR ETF. Just recently, the firm decided to change the investment strategy of its FTSE China A50 ETF to track the STAR Market 50 Index.
The change will take effect on 18 February and the rebalancing to the constituents of the new index will take place over a period of up to five trading days, FSA previously reported.
The index consists of the 50 largest securities listed on the STAR market. Since its establishment in July 2019, the STAR Market has become one the largest IPO markets globally.
OFC ETFs
Separately, CSOP AM’s new ETF will also be the firm’s first product to adopt Hong Kong’s open-ended fund company (OFC) regime, a variable share capital structure for asset management firms that was introduced in 2018.
Before CSOP AM, it was only Mirae Asset Global Investments that made use of the OFC structure for ETFs. The Korean firm launched the first batch of OFC ETFs (three products) in January last year, and then followed up with two more ETFs that adopt the relatively new structure in August.
Just recently, BEA Union Investment also received SFC approval to launch its third product that adopts the OFC structure.
