State Street Global Advisors is making its first real foray into the retail business in Asia by selling its Balzac series of index funds in Hong Kong. Citibank is its exclusive distributor.
Winnie Pun, SSGA's director of investments in Hong Kong, says the idea came from requests by investors in the Tracker Fund, Asia ex-Japan's first exchange-traded fund. Retail investors can't form a portfolio just around the Tracker Fund, she says. They wanted a full range, for technical or strategic allocations. Doing this with traditional active funds just isn't the same, in terms of fees or transparency.
Vincent Duhamel, CEO at SSGA in Hong Kong, adds, The Tracker Fund has...
