STOXX has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan’s largest mutual fund company Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Company (Yuanta SITC), and Japanese trust bank Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. (MUTB), to expand the smart beta footprint in Taiwan.
STOXX signs MOU with Yuanta Securities and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp to expand the smart beta footprint in Taiwan
Under the terms of the agreement, Yuanta plans to license a wide variety of STOXX indices – in particular, from STOXX’s smart beta suite which includes the iSTOXX MUTB Indices – to increase its smart beta offerings to retail and institutional clients in Taiwan.
The indices are likely to underlie products such as exchange-traded funds. In the last month STOXX has been very active in the Asia-Pacific region licensing its indices in Australia, Hong Kong and Korea.
Matteo Andreetto, chief executive officer, STOXX, said: “We are pleased to expand our relationship with Yuanta and MUTB by having entered the memorandum of understanding together. The collaboration gives us the opportunity to leverage our well-recognised smart beta index expertise in Asia and to support both organisations as a provider of innovative index concepts.”
Shirley Low, head of Asia Pacific, STOXX, added: “STOXX has always been at the forefront of the smart beta evolution. With this agreement, we aim to work closely with Yuanta and MUTB to provide Taiwanese market participants with diversified index solutions which could potentially enhance their portfolio risk-return profile.”
Julian Liu, chief executive officer, Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Company, said: “Yuanta is one of the most sophisticated asset management companies in Taiwan, providing investors with an unparalleled range of products and services. By collaborating with STOXX and MUTB, and adopting a comprehensive smart beta philosophy, we aim to provide more consistent and efficient products and solutions to the market.”
“This collaboration is a significant step in our overseas index business,” said Sunao Yokokawa, managing executive officer, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. “MUTB, through the collaboration, will contribute to the expansion of the smart-beta market in Taiwan, with our expertise in the investment management.”
In May 2015, STOXX and MUTB jointly signed a MOU to expand the smart beta footprint in Japan and globally. The first co-branded smart beta index, the iSTOXX MUTB Japan Quality 150 Index, was launched in August 2015 and was licensed to MUTB and Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management (MUKAM) for an institutional passive fund and an ETF listed in Japan.