CSOP’s Saudi Arabia exchange-traded fund (2830.HK on Reuters) aced its debut in Hong Kong, wrapping up its first trading day yesterday with a 0.8% gain to HKD 77.6 a piece at the market close, data from the HKEX showed. It’s the first ETF in Asia tracking Saudi equities.

FOR THE RECORD- “We think Saudi Arabia’s market is a rising star — and our investors love growth stories,” CSOP CEO Ding Chen (far right in photo above) told Bloomberg TV (watch, runtime: 7:42). “We’re bringing the opportunity to the doorstep for Asian and Chinese investors.”

Regional appetite for the ETF is strong, says Ding, noting it has already attracted assets of c. USD 1 bn and has “got a great response from regional investors in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China.”

The ETF may also get listed on the mainland: “We’re working on that,” Ding said. “We hope to cross-list as soon as possible because we see a lot of demand there. A lot of mainland institutions are interested, they want to catch the tide.”

Roadshow coming? “We also see Saudi investors interested in Hong Kong and China equities, but they have limited knowledge of the market. We’re going to try to bring Hong Kong and China to Saudi and the Middle East in the new year.”

Tracking a heavyweight index: The CSOP Saudi Arabia ETF tracks the FTSE Saudi Arabia Index, which has some 56 constituents, according to the latest FTSE Russell factsheet (pdf). The index splits as 42% financials, 18% basic materials, 11% energy. Al Rajhi and Aramco lead the index by market cap, followed by SNB, Sabic, and STC.

IT LOOKS GOOD- The underlying index has a three-year return of 45.8% and a 3.57% dividend yield.

Boosting int’l appetite for our capital market: Debuting an EFT in Hong Kong is aligned with the goals of our Financial Sector Development Program which aims to to open our capital market to international investors through diversified offerings and it comes on the heels of Tadawul’s debut of single stock options earlier this week. The story got ink from Reuters and Bloomberg.

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