Exchange-traded funds (ETF) provider, BetaShares, has announced the launch of its Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASIA), which will offer investors an access to a portfolio of “disruptive companies” in Asia.
It would track the returns of an index which consisted of the largest 50 companies by market capitalisation in the technology and online retail industries, which would have their main area of business in the fast-growing Asian region (ex-Japan).
BetaShares’ chief executive, Alex Vynokur, stressed that the Asian technology sector was rapidly growing due to its younger, tech-savvy population, which surpassed the West in terms of online activity and technological advancements.
“Australian investors are likely more familiar with US tech titans such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google. But if they look a bit closer to home, they’ll uncover a number of Asian businesses that are dominating in this part of the world,” he said.
According to Vynokur, ASIA would allow investors to obtain access to a “relatively reasonably priced, rapidly growing sector” in this part of the world.
ASIA’s current portfolio included companies with their primary region of business in China, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Hong Kong, areas which were typically seen by Australian investors as difficult to access directly.
The top five holdings of the new fund included: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, China’s Alibaba Group, South Korea’s Samsung, and Chinese firms Tencent and Baidu.
