These are the ten most active ETFs on the SGX in 2015

India assets topped the list.

Singapore Exchange has revealed the ten most active exchange-traded funds of 2015. ETFs are investment funds listed and traded intraday on a stock exchange, with most aiming to tracking the performance of an index and provide access to a wide variety of markets and asset classes, including local stocks, international securities, bonds, commodities or money markets.

Singapore’s 10 most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in 2015 were iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF, db x-trackers MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan Index UCITS ETF, iShares Barclays Capital USD Asia High Yield Bond Index ETF, db x-trackers CSI 300 UCITS ETF, db x-trackers MSCI China Index UCITS ETF (DR), db x-trackers FTSE China 50 UCITS ETF (DR), United SSE50 China ETF and db x-trackers MSCI Indonesia Index UCITS ETF.

These 10 ETFs track a range of indices, including the price of gold, high-yield Asian bonds, stock indices of India, Singapore, Indonesia and China, in addition to a regional equity index. The above-mentioned ETFs saw a total turnover of S$2.2 billion over the past calendar year.

The three most active ETFs by turnover in 2015 were iShares MSCI India Index ETF, SPDR® Gold Shares, SPDR® Straits Times Index ETF, each generating turnover of more than S$350 million. These three ETFs were also the most active by turnover in 2014. Together the three ETFs averaged a 5.9% decline in total return in 2015, following on from an average 13.9% gain in 2014. While the SPDR® Gold Shares ETF trades in US Dollars and the iShares MSCI India Index ETF is quoted in both US Dollars and Singapore Dollars, these averaged returns are denominated in Singapore Dollars.

The 10 most active ETFs by turnover in 2015 are detailed below and sorted by Total Turnover.

 Each ETF gives investors access to the performance of the asset that comprises the underlying index. Investing in the ETF is also less costly if one was to build a similar portfolio by buying the individual stocks. It also provides exposure to international markets and asset classes that may be inaccessible to individual investors.