From 18 May, the funds will be renamed from ‘index funds’ to ‘UCITS ETFs’, allowing them to benefit from a dual ETF and unlisted index fund structure.
As a result, the Global Government Bond Index fund will become the Global Government Bond UCITS ETF, the Global Corporate Bond Index fund will become the Global Corporate Bond UCITS ETF, the Global Sustainable Government Bond Index Fund will become the Global Sustainable Government Bond UCITS ETF and the China Government Local Bond Index fund will be renamed the China Government Local Bond UCITS ETF.
Marco Montanari, global head of ETF and indexing capability at the firm, said: “Ensuring investors have access to the investment structures that suit their needs is a clear priority for HSBC Asset Management.
“Our move to issue listed and unlisted share classes for these four index funds will provide additional flexibility to investors to build their portfolios.”
This new categorisation could see HSBC AM enter the top ten largest fixed income ETF providers in Europe by assets under management, as the move is forecast to push the total fixed income ETF AUM to $6bn once the change happens, which combined with the approximately $20bn total equity ETF AUM would see HSBC AM’s ETF AUM reach approximately $26bn.
Fees for the new ETF share classes of the four funds will be announced on the day that their name is changed (18 May).
Montanari added: “Whether it is through economies of scale or the ability to trade freely in real time, these new listed share classes put investor choice at the front and centre of our index offering.”
