Asia is on the rise & even first-time investors can ride the tech wave

Never a bad thing to ask questions.

| Sulaiman Daud | Sponsored | April 21, 2021, 05:10 PM

The one buzzword on everyone’s lips right now, whether they’re talking about work, school or play, is technology.

We keep hearing about how tech will be the driver behind the next Industrial Revolution, and how things like Artificial Intelligence, nanotechnology and the Internet of Things will be commonplace in the near future.

While these developments promise to transform lives and usher in a new age of marvels, a savvy capitalist like yourself may be wondering how you can take advantage of this. Have you heard of the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)?

What’s an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)?

An ETF is an investment fund traded and listed on a stock exchange. They aim to track the returns of a basket of stocks or commodity index.

And if you’re looking to invest in a fund that tracks tech companies, consider this ETF.

Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF

The Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF tracks the top 30 TECH-themed companies, which are all listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).

Here’s a look at the top 10 index constituents of the ETF, as of Mar 31, 2021:

As you may be aware, some of these biggest Asian tech companies are listed in Hong Kong and are not dual-listed.

Asian revolution

Yes, America has long been the world leader in tech companies. But China is catching up fast. Check out this chart.

Image from OCBC Securities.

Within 15 years, the Chinese digital economy has skyrocketed, with a few globally famous tech titans becoming the biggest companies in the world.

E-solutions like mobile phone payments, online shopping and app-based ride sharing have become part of everyday life. And many of these giant tech companies are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Why an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)?

You might be thinking ‘Why do I need a fund? I can just buy the stocks myself.’ Well, that’s technically accurate. But the answer to that is simple -- cost.

Buying a single board lot of the top five tech companies costs a lot more than investing in a fund. Take a look:

Pic from OCBC.

As you can see, if you want to go it alone, you’ll need a mind-boggling amount of capital. It would seem that investing in a fund is more accessible to the man on the street.

Use a Regular Shares Savings (RSS) plan to make your life easier

Some of you reading this may be dedicated traders, living your life according to U.S. time zones and making killer moves in the markets. But perhaps the rest of you may not be as dedicated to stock market trading. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out.

The Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF allows you to use Regular Shares Savings Plans to invest in the fund much more easily.

For those not in the know, a RSS plan is a monthly plan that allows an investor to put in a small, fixed sum of money into a specific investment product on a regular basis.

This is also known as dollar-cost averaging. It offers the investor an affordable and convenient way to make regular contributions regardless of the market conditions. More units are purchased when prices are low and less units are bought when prices are high.

Dollar-cost averaging is useful to avoid timing the market or making a large lump sum investment, as we’ve seen with the tech companies on HKEX like Tencent, JD, Lenovo and Sunny Optical.

Investing with RSS plans is also a useful way to avoid sinking more money than one can afford into volatile stocks. As reported by the Business Times, technology stocks in particular have been rather volatile as of late. It can be tempting to buy up more stocks when you see it rising in value. But a volatile stock can just as easily plunge in price in a small amount of time, and you’d be left paying the price.

Paying a fixed amount every month, through an RSP is a disciplined approach for an investor not to be swayed by the peaks and troughs, and ensure steadier returns over a longer period of time.

There are a number of RSS plans out there you can choose from:

Check out the Lion-OCBC Securities Hang Seng TECH ETF

If all this has piqued your interest, you can check out the ETF page here to get your hands on the prospectus.

Investors will also get to benefit from an exclusive April promotion by OCBC Securities. Running from from now until April 30, 2021, the ETF will take a zero commission during this time.

This is subject to a minimum of 10,000 units in a single buy trade at OCBC Securities only, SRS trade is excluded. Not valid for the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan.

If you’re interested, click the link here.

Know the risks

As with any investment, please be mindful of the risks and never put in more money than you can afford.

Here’s some disclaimers to make you understand the risks involved.

Top image from Pixabay.

This OCBC Securities sponsored ad made the writer learn more about money than all the economics classes in school.

Understanding the risks

The ETF is subjected to the following principal risks including but not limited to market risk, index sector risks, concentration risk, tracking error risk, foreign exchange risk and risk factors relating to the index. Some or all of the risks may adversely affect the Fund’s Net Asset Value, yield, total return and/or its ability to achieve its investment objective. You should note the risk factors associated with investing in the ETF. The statements in the prospectus are intended to be summaries of some of these risks. They are by no means exhaustive and they do not offer advice on the suitability of investing in the ETF. You should read the prospectus and carefully consider the risk factors described together with all of the other information included in the prospectus before deciding whether to invest in the ETF.

Disclaimer:

Trading in securities, futures and/or leveraged foreign exchange and borrowing to finance the trading of securities (leveraging/gearing) can be very risky, and you may lose all or more than the amount invested or deposited. Where necessary, please seek advice from an independent financial adviser regarding the suitability of any trade or investment product taking into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs before making a commitment to trade or purchase the investment product. You should consider carefully and exercise caution in making any trading decision whether or not you have received advice from any financial adviser. If you choose not to seek independent financial advice, please consider whether the trade or product in question is suitable for you.

This article was written in collaboration with OCBC Securities. All views expressed in this article are the independent opinion of the writer and readers are encouraged to do their own due diligence. They do not take into account the specific objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. You should not make any decisions without independently verifying or assessing the contents. Mothership and OCBC Securities Private Limited (“OCBC Securities”) does not endorse and makes no representation or warranty whatsoever in respect of any view expressed here and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage whatsoever arising, directly or indirectly, howsoever as a result of any person acting on any view expressed here.

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