Lyxor Asset Management, a subsidiary of Societe Generale, has listed the first Exchange Traded Fund in Europe that is based on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Price index. The listing is on the SWX Swiss Exchange, and provides a new opportunity for Swiss investors interested in instant exposure to the Japanese market.
“TSE warmly welcomes SWX’s listing of an ETF based on the TOPIX index published and calculated by the TSE, enabling investors to trade the fund in Yen denominations and in real time,” says Taizo Nishimuro, president and CEO of Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. “We firmly believe that this listing will further enhance the cross-border flow of capital between Switzerland and Japan.”
“SWX is pleased to list the Exchange Traded Fund based on the TOPIX, the benchmark index of the Japanese market,” says Heinrich Henckel, CEO of the SWX Swiss Exchange. “We want to thank the Tokyo Stock Exchange to have chosen us as a gateway for this product. We are delighted with the continuous growth of our ETF segment and the boom in trading therein.”
The new tracker is based on the TOPIX index, which offers a wider range of Japanese stock than other major indices. Though it only grew 2 percent in 2006, it gained 43 percent in 2005 and 62.8 percent in the last five years.
“The TOPIX index is widely used as a key benchmark by institutional investors throughout the world to measure the performance of the Japanese economy,” says Roger Bootz, head of Lyxor ETF in Switzerland.