Global index provider FTSE Group (FTSE), has licensed the Straits Times Index (STI) to DBS Asset Management (DBSAM) to be used as the basis of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) which lists on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) today. This is the third time the STI has been licensed as the underlying index for a Singapore focused ETF since it was revamped in January 2008 in partnership with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and SGX. In addition to the ETFs already listed, the FTSE calculated STI has also been licensed as the underlying index for warrants, futures and other index-linked products.
Designed to represent the performance of the Singapore market in real time, the 30 stock STI adopts FTSE’s globally accepted methodology standards and is governed by a clear and transparent set of ground rules. It is these features which meet the needs of domestic and international investors and make the index easy to trade for product issuers, thereby stimulating creation of index-linked products.
FTSE indices are increasingly selected by the investment community as the basis of ETFs and today’s fund joins a successful and rapidly growing family of over 130 FTSE index-linked ETFs available to investors on exchanges worldwide.
Paul Hoff, Managing Director, Asia Pacific of FTSE Group said, “We are committed to providing the global investment community with indexing services to meet market demand for access to the Singapore market and we are delighted to be involved in the licensing of DBSAM’s ETF based on the STI.”
Chan Kum Kong, Director of Equities, DBSAM said, “We believe that the familiarity of the STI to Singapore's investing community makes it suitable for our DBS Singapore STI ETF and we look forward to partnering FTSE in listing more ETFs on the SGX”.
For more information on the STI or FTSE ST Index Series, please visit www.ftse.com/st.