OREANDA-NEWS. The Straits Times Index (STI) is Singapore’s benchmark index that represents the biggest and most active stocks traded in the local bourse. In the 2016 year-to-date, the STI has generated a dividend-inclusive total return of 2.2%, which compares with a total return of 2.6% for the Nikkei 225 Index, 2.3% for the S&P 500 Index and a decline of 0.3% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in Singapore dollar terms. In the September month-to-date, the STI has registered a total return of 1.1%, versus 1.8% for the Nikkei, and declines of 1.9%, 4.2% and 3.9% for the Shanghai Composite Index, Stock Exchange of Thailand Index and Philippine Composite Index respectively, also in Singapore dollar terms.

The best-performing constituent sectors in the STI in the YTD were Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary, with YTD total returns of 20.5% and 7.9% respectively. The three best-performing consumer stocks over the period were Thai Beverage PCL (+43.6%), Wilmar International (+10.8%), and Golden Agri-Resources (+7.2%).

Outside the consumer sector, other best-performing STI constituents in the YTD were from Industrials and Real Estate – SATS (+35.4%), CapitaLand Commercial Trust (+25.6%), Jardine Matheson Holdings (+25.2%), and City Developments (+19.4%).

The 30 stocks of the STI now represent as many as six different sectors. Earlier this week on Monday, Jardine Matheson rejoined the STI, replacing Sembcorp Marine. Based on the STI weights as at 30 June and the net market capitalisation of Jardine Matheson and the STI at that time, Jardine Matheson would have held a 6.5% weight in the STI. Jardine Matheson is a diversified pan-Asian group active in the fields of motor vehicles, property investment and development, food retailing, home furnishings, engineering and construction, transport services, insurance broking, restaurants, luxury hotels, financial services, heavy equipment, mining and agri-business.

The SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF was the third-most active ETF in the year thus far and the September month-to-date. MTD turnover stood at S$20.2 million, up marginally from S$19.5 million in the year-ago period. The SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF was also the fourth best-performing ETF in the MTD, with a total return of 1.0%.

Apart from SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF, the STI is investable through another ETF that tracks the Index – the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF. Both ETFs are cash-based, meaning the ETF holds actual shares of the constituents of the Index it is tracking. The manager of the ETF would rebalance the holdings of the ETF to mimic that of the STI. The two STI ETF expense ratios are similar – between 0.3% to 0.35%, which is a fraction of fees charged by unit trusts, which typically range from 1% to 3%.

Month-to-Date Performances

The 10 most active ETFs on SGX in the month of September were iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares ETF, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF , db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF, db x-trackers MSCI Thailand Index UCITS ETF (DR), iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF, db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers CNX Nifty UCITS ETF, db x-trackers MSCI Singapore IM Index UCITS ETF (DR) and db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF.

In the month of September, these 10 most active ETFs averaged a total return of 0.5%, taking the one-year and three-year total returns to 9.7% and 21.6% respectively. The three best performers in terms of month-to-date total returns were db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF and db x-trackers MSCI Singapore IM Index UCITS ETF (DR).

The above-mentioned ETFs saw a 2.3% YoY decrease in turnover for the month, declining from S$118.3 million in September 2015 to S$115.6 million in the same period this year. This brings the total 12-month turnover to S$1.8 billion.

The three most active ETFs over the month of September were iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares ETF and SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF.

The 10 most active ETFs in September 2016 are detailed below in Singapore dollars and sorted by MTD turnover.