To be sure, the first ETF was listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68
) (SGX) in May 2001. The first Singapore-listed ETF to cover the Singapore equity market was the SPDR Straits Times Index (STI) ETF, which was listed in April 2002. According to SGX data, the assets under management (AUM) of ETFs doubled to over $10 billion between December 2019 and October 2023.
Exchange-traded funds, more commonly known as ETFs, are a basket of securities that can be easily traded like an individual stock. Often confused with mutual funds due to their similarities, ETFs offer more versatility as they can be traded at any time of the day, unlike mutual funds. Most ETFs track a specific index and their holdings are disclosed daily.
According to Richard Siaw, the director of Southeast Asia at New York-headquartered passive thematic manager Global X ETFs, the adoption of ETFs in Singapore has grown in recent years with rising financial literacy and a wider variety of ETFs.
