Reliance Asset Management in Singapore has submitted an application to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its RAMS India Nifty Next 50 Index ETF to be offered in the Lion City, according to the regulator’s records.
The Nifty Next 50 Index represents the 50 companies from the Nifty 100 after excluding the companies from the Nifty 50 Index, according to the index factsheet.
In Singapore, there are four other India-focused ETFs, which are the Xtrackers MSCI India Swap Ucits ETF, Xtrackers Nifty 50 Swap Ucits ETF, iShares MSCI India Index ETF and the Lyxor ETF MSCI India ETF, according to data from the Singapore Exchange.
First retail offering
When approved, Reliance AM’s product will be the firm’s first ETF to be listed in Singapore, according to data from the exchange. It is also the firm’s first retail offering in the Lion City, FE data shows.
FSA sought more information from Reliance AM, but the firm was not able to provide more details in time for publication.
The firm first set up in Singapore in 2006 as an offshore platform for its parent, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, according to the firm’s website.
Although it holds a capital market services licence to carry out fund management activities, its mandates, which include India-focused equity, fixed income and alternative assets, are offered exclusively for accredited investors.
Still a small industry
Singapore’s ETF industry remains small, with only 10 managers listing 51 ETFs on the exchange.
Last year, just two ETFs were launched, the Phillip SING Income ETF and the Nikko AM SGD Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF.
In Singapore, the cost of listing such products is high, which is one of the reasons why its ETF industry has not become as deep when compared with other Asia markets, Lim Shyong Piau, chief marketing officer at Lion Global Investors, told FSA in a previous interview.
“The cost of listing an ETF in Singapore is high, so that deters managers from listing too many ETFs here. I think the exchange, service providers and asset managers should [work on a solution] to keep the costs lower so that it becomes a lot more attractive market for managers to list an ETF,” he said.
Lion Global launched its first and only ETF in 2017, the Lion-Phillip S-REIT ETF, which is sub-managed by Phillip Capital Management.
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