Special Session B: exchange-traded funds

Abstract

An Exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment company with shares that trade intraday on stock exchanges at market-determined prices. Investors may buy or sell ETF shares through a broker just as they would the shares of any publicly traded company. In the US, there are 84 ETFs and the combined assets of these ETFs were $73.33 billion at the end of April 200 l. The asset types of these funds range from broad-based domestic equity index funds to sector/industry-foc used domestic index funds and global or international funds. This session invites speakers from Standard & Poor's and State Street Global Advisors, two leading financial institutions in the ETF business. The speakers will discuss topics such as: • What are ETFs? What are their unique features? • What are their benefits? • What are the recent trends of ETFs? • What are the roles of the various parties? • What are the main developmental challenges? • What are the lessons learnt from the launch of TraHK?