Taiwan to launch first ETF

The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) has granted a licence to asset management company State Street Global Advisors and Taiwanese securities firm Polaris International Securities Investment Trust to launch the country's first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The fund will be listed on the exchange by the middle of this year.

The ETF will be based on the recently introduced TSEC Taiwan 50 index, launched by TSE and the London-based FTSE Group in November 2002.

State Street Global Advisors has launched a series of ETFs throughout Asia, including the Tracker Fund in Hong Kong, the streetTRACKS Straits Times Index Fund in Singapore, and a Kospi200 ETF in South Korea. The Taiwan ETF will be launched in partnership with Polaris following the formation of an as yet unnamed Taipei-based consortium incorporating the two firms in 2002

“Given the advantages of low cost and diversification, we are confident that this ETF will be popular amongst both Taiwanese and international investors,” said Vincent Duhamel, managing director of State Street Global Advisors Asia.