OREANDA-NEWS. The SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF is the second-most active ETF on Singapore Exchange in the month thus far, with April month-to-date turnover nearly tripling to S$18.1 million, from S$6.5 million in the same period a year ago. It is also the third-best performing ETF in the MTD, with a total return of 3.5%.    

In the 2016 year-to-date, the STI has gained about 2%, with dividends boosting total returns to 2.4%. This compares with an average 2% decline for nine markets in the Asia-Pacific region – the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index, Thailand’s SET Index, the Jakarta Composite Index, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, China’s CSI 300 Index, Taiwan’s Taiex, South Korea’s Kospi and India’s Nifty 50 Index.

In the year thus far, Singapore stocks have also been more resilient than Chinese equities (see chart below). The CSI 300, Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite Indexes have averaged a decline of about 22% in the YTD.

Source: SGX & Bloomberg (data as of 21 April 2016)

China stocks look set to post their steepest weekly decline in almost three months on Friday, amidst concern over potential corporate defaults and that signs of stabilisation in the domestic economy would curtail further government stimulus. The Shanghai Composite Index’s intraday fall of as much as 4.5% earlier this week comes after Chinese shares surged to a three-month high last week on strong exports data, and rebounded 12% in March.

In the rest of Asia, Japanese equities eased from near-three month highs as the firmer yen weighed on exporters and a handful of earnings from technology companies disappointed investors.

Month-to-Date Performances

The 10 most active ETFs on SGX in the month-to-date are SPDR® Gold Shares, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF, iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF, iShares MSCI India Index ETF, iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF, db x-trackers MSCI Brazil Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF, db x-trackers II Markit iBoxx ABF Singapore Government UCITS ETF, db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) and db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF.

In the month thus far, these 10 most active ETFs averaged a total return of 2.4%, taking the one-year and three-year total returns to -7.5 % and 2.8% respectively. The three best performers in terms of month-to-date total returns were db x-trackers MSCI Brazil Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) and SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF.

The above-mentioned ETFs saw a 16% YoY increase in turnover for the month thus far, rising from S$90.3 million in the April 2015 month-to-date to S$104.6 million in the same period this year. This brings the total 12-month turnover to S$1.9 billion.

The three most active ETFs over the first 15 sessions of April were SPDR® Gold Shares, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF and iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF.

The 10 most active ETFs in the April 2016 month-to-date are detailed below in Singapore dollars and sorted by MTD turnover.

Name Stock Code Price (S$) MTD Turnover 2016 (S$) MTD Turnover 2015 (S$) YTD Turnover 2016 (S$) 12M Turnover (S$)
SPDR® Gold Shares O87 120.25 30,858,597 24,676,108 232,721,859 557,761,387
SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF ES3 2.96 18,093,640 6,467,113 134,568,945 356,748,004
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF N6M 10.62 14,917,813 2,263,213 39,592,538 102,127,870
iShares MSCI India Index ETF I98 6.79 11,723,728 33,449,810 137,942,518 528,050,962
iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF O9P 10.55 10,936,612 2,023,625 38,581,914 87,402,809
db x-trackers MSCI Brazil Index UCITS ETF (DR) J0O 3.15 5,907,094 551,765 14,798,934 25,756,232
db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF KJ7 13.14 4,813,225 5,446,201 29,852,615 83,406,212
db x-trackers II Markit iBoxx ABF Singapore Government UCITS ETF KV4 136.42 2,672,342 133,851 2,685,618 6,396,232
db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) HD8 29.04 2,630,507 11,403,943 20,321,156 79,073,902
db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF HD9 22.28 1,998,105 3,865,418 11,315,555 59,265,212

Source: SGX & Bloomberg (data as of 21 April 2016)

Name Stock Code Total Return MTD % Total Return YTD % Total Return 12M % Total Return Annualized 3 Yrs  % Total Return 3 Yrs  % 30 Day Volatility %
SPDR® Gold Shares O87 2.1 12.6 4.7 -1.4 -4.3 17.3
SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF ES3 3.5 1.9 -13.0 -0.8 -2.5 15.8
iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF N6M 0.9 -0.3 3.0 6.8 21.9 8.5
iShares MSCI India Index ETF I98 1.5 -3.5 -11.7 5.6 17.7 14.7
iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF O9P 1.5 -0.2 4.7 7.6 24.7 6.5
db x-trackers MSCI Brazil Index UCITS ETF (DR) J0O 7.7 35.1 -14.5 -13.7 -35.7 53.3
db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF KJ7 1.8 8.5 -10.8 -6.3 -17.8 17.9
db x-trackers II Markit iBoxx ABF Singapore Government UCITS ETF KV4 -0.6 4.1 4.0 1.2 3.7 4.8
db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR) HD8 3.9 -6.0 -29.6 5.5 17.3 22.7
db x-trackers FTSE Vietnam UCITS ETF HD9 1.8 -7.5 -11.9 1.0 2.9 12.4
Average   2.4 4.5 -7.5 0.5 2.8 17.4

Source: SGX & Bloomberg (data as of 21 April 2016)

ETFs are investment funds listed and traded intraday on a stock exchange. The majority aim to track the performance of an index and provide access to a wide variety of markets and asset classes, including local stocks, international securities, bonds, commodities or money markets.

Each ETF gives investors access to the performance of the asset that comprises the underlying index. Investing in the ETF is also less costly if one was to build a similar portfolio by buying the individual stocks. It also provides exposure to international markets and asset classes that may be inaccessible to individual investors.