Assets under management in Hong Kong-domiciled exchange-traded funds (ETFs) declined to $35.8bn at the end of March 2018, compared to $38.7bn at the end of December 2017, according to data from Morningstar. They reached their peak at the end of January, at $41.3bn.
Hong Kong ETFs also suffered net outflows in 2017, which&FSA earlier attributed to investors cashing profits in the booming markets.
Meanwhile, the AUM of ETFs domiciled in South Korea grew during the first quarter of 2018, reaching the record high of $37.2bn at the end of March, and surpassing that of Hong Kong for the first time. At the end of December 2017, the AUM was $33.2bn.
Asia’s biggest ETF market remains unquestionably Japan, with the AUM of $305.9bn at the end of March, up from $273.4bn three months earlier.
First quarter data for China-domiciled ETFs are not yet available.
ETF assets in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong
Data: Morningstar, HKEX, in US dollars, as of 31 March 2018
While South Korean ETFs saw estimated net inflows of $3.89bn in the first quarter of 2018, those in Hong Kong saw estimated net outflows of $3.19bn, Morningstar data show. (March flow estimates are not available for some Hong Kong-domiciled funds.)
ETFs domiciled in Japan saw net inflows of $30.4bn during the same period, with the Bank of Japan continuing its purchases as part of prime minister’s Shinzo Abe’s economic stimulus.
