The investment objective of iShares Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency 1-3 Year Bond Index ETF is to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, closely correspond to the performance of the Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency Short Duration Bond Index in US dollar terms.

Being short duration bonds, the average yield to maturity is expected to be low, in the region of 2-4+%.

The ETF has a management fee of 0.35% p.a with a fund size of about US$9 million and uses sampling replication.

Even though the ETF is denominated in USD, the currency exposure of an investor of the ETF is really in the local currencies of the underlying Asian bonds. These include (as of 13th December 2011):

Thailand 25.15%
South Korea 24.93%
Malaysia 23.15%
Singapore 16.40%
Indonesia 4.98%
Philippines 4.02%
Hong Kong 1.38%

The returns of an investor would come from the bond returns as well as any gain or losses in the local currencies.

To give an example of why you are not exposed to the currency that an ETF is denominated in, say you have an ETF that invests into S$130 million worth of Singapore bonds. With 100 million shares, each share is worth US$1 (at an exchange rate of US$1 to S$1.30) and would have cost you S$1.30.

Assume that the value of the Singapore bonds remain unchanged but USD depreciates to US$1 to S$1. If the value of the ETF still remains at US$1, then yes, your shares would only be worth S$1.

However, the S$130 million worth of bonds should now be valued at US$130 million as the exchange rate is 1 is to 1. This means that each share would be worth US$1.30, a 30% appreciation in price. Valued in S$, your shares would still be worth S$1.30.

The main disadvantage of having a US$ denominated ETF is the spread you incur (through your bank or brokerage firm) every time you buy or sell the ETF.

You can find out more product information about this bond ETF here:

iShares Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency 1-3 Year Bond Index ETF

To leave your comments, please go to : iShares Asia Local Currency 1-3 Year Bond Index ETF

iShares Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency Bond Index ETF (N6L)

The ETF tracks the Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency Diversified Bond Index. It provides direct exposure to local Asian currency debt, an attractive proposition for investors expecting Asian currencies to keep appreciating against the USD.

The index principally covers sovereign bonds issued by Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines with small allocations to regional corporate bonds.

More information (including the factsheet and product highlight sheet) about the ETF can be found here:

iShares Barclays Capital Asia Local Currency Bond Index ETF (N6L) Overview

iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF (N6M)

This ETF is the only ETF tracking the J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Index-Core (JACI Core) and will allow investors to access USD-denominated debt from Asian sovereign and corporate issuers.

The JACI Core has been designed for liquidity and tradability to suit an ETF structure and is based on the J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Index which is one of the most widely followed Asian fixed income benchmarks.

More information (including the factsheet and product highlight sheet) about the ETF can be found here:

iShares J.P. Morgan USD Asia Credit Bond Index ETF (N6M) Overview

To leave your comments, please go to : iShares Asian Fixed Income ETFs

Event Date:26 February 2011
Event Time:2:00pm – 6:00pm
Venue:Gallery East, Level 3, Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre
Cost: Free

Topics covered:

• Global and Asia Market Outlook 2011
• Thought Leadership in the Asian ETF Market – Extending the choice of building blocks for Asian investors
• Facts & Fantasies about ETFs
• Inside ETF – Managing ETFs, Insights from a portfolio manager
• ETF panel discussion

Click here to register.

To leave your comments, please go to : Keep Evolving Your Investment with ETFs

This comes after they have recently launched a few ETFs in Singapore.

Currently, iShares have four ETFs listed here:

• iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund
• iShares S&P 500 Index Fund
• iShares Dow Jones US Technology Sector Index Fund
• iShares MSCI India

For more information and the latest list of iShares ETFs listed here, you can visit the iShares Singapore website.

To leave your comments, please go to : iShares ETFs on SGX