Bosera Starting an S&P 500 ETF for Chinese Investors

(Bloomberg) -- Bosera Asset Management Co. is starting an exchange-traded fund to allow traders in China to invest in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the benchmark gauge for U.S. equities.

The ETF, created by Shenzhen-based Bosera with a license from S&P Dow Jones Indices, would be the first linked to the S&P 500 that trades in China, S&P said in a statement today. The Shanghai Composite Index has lost 3.4 percent this year, while the S&P 500 has rallied 26 percent, putting it on track for the biggest annual gain since 2003.

Assets under management of ETFs listed in mainland China was more than 150 billion yuan ($25 billion) in the third quarter, with about 80 funds available, S&P said. About $5.74 trillion in assets is benchmarked to the S&P 500, according to the statement.

Some $109 billion has gone to ETFs that track U.S. stocks since the start of 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

ETFs are bundles of securities that trade on a stock exchange. They have attracted investors with their low costs, tax advantages and tradability. Most ETFs track an index of stocks or bonds. In the U.S., the industry gathered $715 billion in the five years through 2012, more than twice that collected by actively managed mutual funds, according to data compiled by the Investment Company Institute in Washington.

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