This publication carries latest news of product launches from the wealth management industry in Asia.

BlackRock, the US-listed investment giant with $5.1 trillion of client assets (at 30 September 2016), has launched a new Asia equity index and an exchange traded fund, tapping what it sees as demand for such assets.

The firm has launched the iShares Core Hang Seng Index ETF and the iShares APAC Core Series. The ETF tracks the Hang Seng Index and has been authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong. The fund is expected to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 23 November.

The iShares Core Hang Seng Index ETF is designed to give access to the most highly traded Hong Kong equity benchmark and is priced with estimated ongoing charges of 9 basis points, which BlackRock said is the lowest of its kind in Hong Kong. Multiple currency trading counters, in HK dollar, Chinese yuan and US dollar, are available for the ETF.

The iShares APAC Core Series will incorporate the iShares Core Hang Seng Index ETF upon listing, as well as four other ETFs in Hong Kong - two from Australia and two from Japan. 

The asset manager has changed its iShares product range in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia-Pacific by launching ETFs, reducing prices, adding multiple currency trading counters and changing indexes to follow regional liquidity trends. Some of these changes were to prepare for the launch of the iShares APAC Core series, it said.

For the year through to 31 October, the nine ETFs in the iShares APAC Core Series attracted inflows of more than $1 billion, the firm said. The combined series AuM at the end of October was $4.23 billion.