During the end of May 2009 Polaris
SITC planned a visit to Thailand, to host a seminar on the topic
of ETF development strategies. Within Thailand¡¦s fledgling ETF
industry there is great potential for further development, and
also increasing appetite from investors and providers alike.
The purpose of the seminar was to provide educational material
for those interested in the ETF industry, as well as to provide
our perspective on the potential for collaboration between Thailand
and Taiwan.
We were very fortunate to have the
support of Khun Mam, representing Thailand¡¦s Association of
Investment Management Companies (AIMC). Thanks to her support,
the seminar turnout was excellent, with representatives from
the most prominent asset management companies in Thailand, both
local and foreign. Attendees were well prepared and keen on
learning more about the ETF industry.
The topics covered during the seminar
ranged from a synopsis of the global ETF environment, to the
local situation in Taiwan & Polaris¡¦ role in Asian asset
management, to areas for future development and an overview
of tools for institutional investors. The focus of the seminar
topics were not only designed to describe ETFs and their ever-increasing
global presence, but also to elaborate on the ways in which
ETFs may benefit the organizations that provide them, as well
as investors. Another key component of the seminar was the concept
that ETFs and asset management exist in cohesion with other
areas of business, such as active management, alternative, and
quantitative solutions. As any ETF provider knows, mastering
passively managed ETFs goes hand in hand with mastering actively
managed products, and is also tied quite closely to quantitative
and alternative specialties.
We are grateful not only that our
seminar was a success, but also for the media coverage that
was received both in Thailand, by the Bangkok Post, as well
as in Taiwan by local media. One of the results of the recent
financial peril is that both institutional and retail investors
are seeking simpler, more highly transparent solutions. ETFs
are one such solution, and both demand and approval are ever-increasing.
Polaris SITC hopes to work closely
with both the securities exchange of Thailand as well as the
AIMC in finding a suitable local partner to develop these growing
areas of potential. Polaris SITC aims to develop a long-term
relationship with a strong local counterpart in Thailand, with
the objective being mutual cross-listings between nations, as
well as potential for other indexing product development.
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