• Growing global geopolitical tensions saw investors flocking to safe-haven assets such as gold. This saw the trading turnover of the SPDR® Gold Shares ETF listed on SGX jump 170% month-on-month in October.
   
• Besides Gold, ETFs with Singapore Equities as underlying saw increased trading as well, doubling in turnover over the month of October. S-REITs ETFs also recorded 75% growth in trading turnover as investors continue to deploy capital into the sector, with net creations of S$14 million over the month.
   
• In 3Q 2023, the combined AUM of the 41 ETFs listed on SGX surpassed S$11 billion on the back of new ETF listings, including the iShares MSCI Asia Ex Japan Climate Action ETF and the CGS Fullgoal Vietnam 30 Sector Cap ETF.
   
• SGX also welcomes the upcoming listing of the CGS Fullgoal CSI 1000 ETF, which captures the performance of smaller Chinese companies with high growth characteristics and potential. This is the first CSI1000 Index ETF to be listed offshore and adds to the current suite of nine SGX-listed ETFs with China Equities and Bonds as underlying.

Growing global geopolitical tensions saw the STI end October with a 4.7% decline for the month, in line with the 4.0% declines seen in the FTSE Asia Pacific Index. On the other hand, concerns over the Israel-Hamas conflict saw investors flocking to safe-haven assets such as gold. This saw the SPDR® Gold Shares ETF on the move, from US$171 a unit as of end September to US$184 as of end October, gaining 7.4% over the month. The SPDR® Gold Shares ETF is cross-listed in Singapore and available to trade in two currencies - USD and SGD. The turnover of the SGX-listed Gold ETFs jumped 170% month-on-month, reversing the more muted trading activity seen in 3Q2023 on the back of lower price volatility.

Besides Gold, ETFs with Singapore Equities as underlying (Singapore Equities ETFs) saw increased trading as well, doubling in turnover in the month of October. Singapore Equities also overtook ETFs with China Equities as underlying (China Equities ETF) rose as the top traded across SGX-listed ETFs. Singapore Equities ETFs saw net creation of S$6 million recorded over the month.

SGX-listed ETFs with S-REITs as underlying (S-REITs ETFs) also recorded 75% growth in trading turnover as investors continue to deploy capital into the sector, with net creations of S$14 million in October. Overall in the year-to-date, S-REITs and Asia ex-Japan REITs ETFs listed on SGX saw net creation of S$71 million.

Source: SGX (Data as of 31 Oct 2023).

Source: SGX (Data as of 31 Oct 2023).

In 3Q 2023, the combined asset under management (AUM) of the 41 ETFs, across multi-asset classes, listed on SGX surpassed S$11 billion as ETFs with Asian Equities as underlying attracted S$600 million in net inflows on the back of new ETF listings. These include the listing of the iShares MSCI Asia Ex Japan Climate Action ETF in September 2023 and the CGS Fullgoal Vietnam 30 Sector Cap ETF in August 2023.

iShares MSCI Asia Ex Japan Climate Action ETF was launched with initial AUM of US$426 million, marking it as the largest Equities ETF at launch on SGX. It tracks the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Climate Action Index which is part of the suite of MSCI Climate Action Indexes launched in end 2022. The ETF invests into the top 50% of companies in each GICS® sector on the basis of their relative carbon emission intensity, emission reduction targets, green revenues, climate transition risk and steps taken to mitigate these risks. (Read more here)

CGS Fullgoal Vietnam 30 Sector Cap ETF provides direct access to one of the fastest growing countries in ASEAN by investing into 30 largest stocks listed on Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam with free float market capitalization. Vietnam recorded a year-on-year GDP growth of 4.14% in the 2nd quarter this year, thanks to the rapidly growing middle class. The year-to-date performance of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh's Stock Index has also outpaced many ASEAN peers. (Read more here)

In addition to the two ETFs listed in 3Q2023, SGX also welcomes the upcoming launch of the new CGS Fullgoal CSI 1000 ETF on 9th Nov, under the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and SGX ETF Product link. The CGS Fullgoal CSI 1000 ETF seeks to capture the performance of the CSI 1000 index, which focuses on smaller companies with high growth characteristics and potential with sectoral focus in healthcare, IT and industrial. This is also the 1st CSI1000 Index ETF to be listed offshore and ETF assets tracking CSI1000 in onshore China has now crossed US$7 billion. (Click here for more information on the ETF, including factsheets and prospectus)

The CGS Fullgoal CSI 1000 ETF will add to the suite of nine SGX-listed ETFs with China Equities and Bonds as underlying. Together nine China-related ETFs have a combined local AUM of S$1.6 billion and saw a trading turnover of S$64 million in October. Boosted by the Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF, the China Equities were also among the top traded asset classes across all SGX-listed ETFs. More details on the suite of China-related ETFs can be found here.

Did you know?

The SPDR® Gold Shares ETF is cross-listed in Singapore and available to trade in two currencies - USD and SGD. The ETF is also included under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) - Ordinary Account and Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS). The objective of the SPDR® Gold Shares is for the ETF to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's expense ratio of 0.4% per annum. The Shares represent fractional, undivided interests in the Trust, with the primary asset currently consisting of 923 tonnes of gold securely vaulted in London.

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