Shown above is an online event to celebrate the listing of a new ETF of Horizons ETFs on April 13 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The product focuses on the so-called BBIG sectors composed of battery, biotech, internet, and gaming. Horizons ETFs is owned by South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments. Photo courtesy of Mirae Asset Global Investments.

Korean asset management firm rolls out three ETF products in Canada

Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s leading asset management company, has rolled out the world’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) that bets on the plunge of Bitcoin.

The Seoul-based company said on April 16 that its Canadian subsidiary Horizons ETFs had launched the unprecedented product, with the ticker BITI, this week on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Horizons ETFs also debuted an ETF product with the ticker HBIT that takes long positions on Bitcoin futures traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

“There is a log of interest in Bitcoin, but it is an asset class that has historically been somewhat complex for investors to get access to, especially when compared to buying ETFs,” Horizons ETFs CEO Steve Hawkins said.

“HBIT and BITI provide an ETF option with daily liquidity that allows investors to take either a long or short position on the asset class… Buying HBIT and BITI is as easy as buying any other ETF through a broker and doesn’t require investors to open up separate cryptocurrency accounts.”

Mirae Asset snapped up Horizons ETFs a decade ago

Midway through 2011, Mirae Asset invested $126 million to take over Horizons ETFs from Jovian Capital Corporation. It is currently the No. 4 player in the Canadian market.

ETFs are investment instruments designed to track an index as compared to index funds. Thanks to their low management fees and high price visibility, ETFs have taken firm root around the globe since their debut in the early 1990s.

Asset management companies also tried to make ETFs tracking cryptocurrencies, and Canada was the first to do that _ in February, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF debuted to draw more than $1 billion in two months.

On top of the two products tracking the largest cryptocurrency, Horizons ETFs introduced an ETF tool early this week, investing in stocks in the battery, biotech, internet, and gaming industries.

The four promising segments are collectively dubbed as the BBIG sectors.

“Over the last year, we have seen the pace of global technological disruption and proliferation accelerate, particularly in several key industries, including those that BBIG offers exposure to,” Hawkins said.

“While these investment themes are in focus now, the continued growth of the BBIG industries will be catalysts for the advancement of other technology-reliant industries, such as the electric vehicle industry, underscoring their future growth potential.”
이 기사를 공유합니다
Copyright © The Korea News Plus