ABF Pan Asia Bond Index Fund to list in Japan

The Tokyo Stock Exchange has approved the listing of the ABF Pan Asia Bond Index Fund (PAIF), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) managed by State Street Global Advisors Singapore. The ETF, which is scheduled to be listed on June 19, will be the very first one on the Tokyo exchange that tracks a bond index.

PAIF tracks the iBoxx ABF Pan-Asia Index, which is designed to measure the performance of government and quasi-government bonds in eight Asian markets: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

A collective investment scheme, PAIF is authorised in Hong Kong and Singapore, and registered in Japan. It is domiciled in Singapore and was listed on the stock exchange in Hong Kong in July 2005.

PAIF is a component of Asian Bond Fund 2 (ABF2), the second phase of the Executives' Meeting of East-Asia and Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) initiative to further develop the bond markets in Asia. The EMEAP Group comprises 11 central banks and monetary authorities in East Asia and thr Pacific region, namely, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

The investment objective of PAIF is to provide investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond closely to the total return of the underlying index.

The iBoxx ABF Pan-Asia Index is an indicator of investment returns of Asian currency denominated bonds issued by both government and quasi-government organisations in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Aside from market capitalisation, the index also considers liquidity of the market, the country's sovereign rating, and the openness of the market, which takes into consideration the regulatory, legal and fiscal environment, and the trading and clearing infrastructure of each local market.