Stoxx, a leading European index provider, has announced that its flagship Euro Stoxx 50 Index has been licensed to Taiwanese mutual fund firm Yuanta SITC, for the development of locally listed ETF due to launch in 2016. This is the first time the blue chip Euro Stoxx 50 Index has been licensed to underlie an ETF in Taiwan.

Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx.

Julian Liu, president and chief executive officer of Yuanta SITC, commented: “We are very delighted to work with a large index provider like STOXX, to provide Euro-linked products in Taiwan. Our product focus has evolved from the home market to Greater China, Asia, US and Europe, and we aim to provide a more holistic set of ETFs to fulfill the needs of investors, both retail and institutional.”

“The outlook for the European economy is getting brighter and the upside potential is quite promising as well. We believe it’s a very good time to introduce the Euro Stoxx 50 Index to the general public in Taiwan. The existing Yuanta network in Asia has expanded to China, Thailand, Indonesia and Korea. We will soon plan to cross-list ETFs on Stoxx’s indices to other exchanges in these regions,” he added.

Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx, commented: “The Euro Stoxx 50 Index is Europe’s favourite and well-known blue chip index. Based on a transparent and rules based methodology that ensures sector diversity and liquidity in the index, our flagship index provides market participants globally with access to the performance of the Eurozone equity markets.”

The move comes hot on the heels of the recent launches of Taiwan’s first oil-tracking ETF, the Yuanta S&P GSCI Oil ER ETF, and two funds tracking short or leveraged exposure to Japan’s TOPIX, the Fubon Topix Leveraged 2X Index ETF and Fubon Topix Inverse -1X Index ETF, further highlighting the rapid development of Taiwan’s capital markets.