Value Partners Group listed its first AI-themed exchange-traded-fund (ETF) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) on Friday.

The Value Partners Optical Communication Active ETF (SEHK: 2811) marks the first actively managed ETF focused on the optical communications sector in Hong Kong.

The ETF invests in companies across the global optical communications value chain, aiming to capture the growth arising from the artificial intelligence build out.

Guo Xiaolin, senior fund manager, equities at Value Partners, said: “As AI computing clusters continue to scale rapidly, the AI race is expanding beyond computing chips to include high-speed networking capabilities.”

“Serving as the ‘high-speed railway’ for massive data transmission, optical communications has become a critical component of the digital infrastructure supporting AI development.”

“Backed by our team’s deep research expertise and active management capabilities, the fund is well positioned to identify investment opportunities across the optical communications value chain and help investors capture structural growth opportunities driven by sustained demand for AI computing power and data transmission.”

Alex Chiu, senior strategist, ETF business at Value Partners, said: “While investor interest in AI-related themes has grown significantly in recent years, most products remain concentrated in semiconductors or large-cap technology companies, offering limited exposure to other key beneficiaries across the AI infrastructure value chain.”

“Value Partners Optical Communication Active ETF is specifically designed to address this gap. As our first actively managed and AI-themed ETF, the Fund marks an important milestone in the development of our ETF business and a significant step in expanding our AI value chain investment strategy.”

The ETF trades in Hong Kong dollars, with an ongoing charges figure of 1.5%, of which 0.99% is a management fee.

Its largest holdings include Lumentum Holdings at 9.7%, Coherent Corp at 9.1% and Suzhou TFC Optical Communication at 8.6%.