收費模式將提振亞太ETF市場

While regulators in the US fret that the pace of growth in the exchange traded fund market may be too explosive, their counterparts in Asia along with asset managers and distributors sweat over what more can be done to raise investor interest.

在美國監管機構擔心交易所交易基金(ETF)市場增速可能太快的同時，他們在亞洲的同行以及資產管理公司和分銷商卻忙着考慮還有什麼辦法可以提高投資者的興趣。

As US ETF assets under management passed the $3tn mark this summer, AUM in the Asia-Pacific industry just managed to creep over $350bn.

今年夏季，美國ETF管理的資產規模跨過3萬億美元大關，亞太ETF行業管理的資產僅成功爬上3500億美元關口。

Between 2015 and 2016, the US market grew by 20 per cent, while the Asian market increased by just 10 per cent. There are two ways to look at the relatively modest size of the Asian ETF market compared with both the US and Europe — which is twice as big as Asia, with $716bn in ETF assets — say analysts.

從2015年至2016年，美國ETF市場增長20%，而亞洲市場僅擴大10%。分析師們表示，從兩個角度可以看出亞洲ETF市場的規模不及美國和歐洲：後者的市場規模是亞洲的兩倍，ETF管理的資產規模爲7160億美元。

The first is to view Asia as a market that has proved resistant to rapid development and will require significant structural and regulatory change before taking off. The second sees the possibility of sudden upside surprise.

第一種是把亞洲視作一個被證明爲排斥快速發展的市場，在起飛之前需要重大結構和監管改變。第二種是看到突然出現上行驚喜的可能性。

One difficulty in assessing the potential for ETFs in Asia, say experts at the largest asset management houses, is both the disproportionate size of the Japanese market within the region and the role played by the Bank of Japan, which distorts the market as it buys ￥6tn ($54bn) of ETFs a year.

各大資產管理公司的專家們表示，評估亞洲ETF潛力的難題在於日本市場在地區所佔比重過大，以及日本央行(Bank of Japan)扮演的角色過大。日本央行每年購買6萬億日元（合540億美元）的ETF，這扭曲了市場。

With assets under management of $200bn, according to Nomura Securities, Japan’s ETF market is about $50bn larger than all other Asia-Pacific ETF markets put together. At the end of August, the market value of the BOJ’s ETF holdings was $175bn.

根據野村證券(Nomura Securities)的數據，日本ETF市場管理的資產規模爲2000億美元，比亞太其他所有ETF市場的總規模還要高出約500億美元。8月底，日本央行持有的ETF資產的市值爲1750億美元。

Through an ETF buying programme that has been criticised by some as the “de facto nationalisation” of the Japanese stock market, the central bank indirectly holds a 10 per cent stake in some 22 large Japanese companies and about 3 per cent of the whole Japanese stock market.

通過ETF購買計劃，日本央行間接持有約22家日本大企業10%的股權，並持有整個日本股市的3%左右。一些人批評稱，這是對日本股市“事實上的國有化”。

Meanwhile, there are other factors holding back the Asian ETF market that some sceptics fear will hold back development of the retail side.

與此同時，還有其他因素在掣肘亞洲ETF市場，一些懷疑者擔心，這些因素將阻礙散戶市場的發展。

There are, for example, clear differences in the way the products are pitched to investors in the US and Asia. A high proportion — some estimate 90 per cent — of funds in Asia are commission-based. This disadvantages ETFs because they are openly traded on stock exchanges and are not structured to pay commissions to banks, brokerages or financial advisers that might recommend them, unlike the mutual fund industry in the region.

例如，美國和亞洲向投資者推介產品的方式存在明顯區別。在亞洲，很大比例的基金（一些人估計爲90%）是以佣金爲基礎。這對ETF不利，因爲它們在股票交易所公開交易，在結構上不便向可能推薦它們的銀行、券商或理財顧問支付佣金，這與該地區的共同基金行業不同。

A vibrant ETF market would depend on the evolution of fee-based distribution networks. Mark Talbot, managing director of Asia-Pacific at Fidelity International, says the distribution infrastructure is holding back retail demand.

活躍的ETF市場將取決於基於收費的分銷網絡的發展。富達國際(Fidelity International)亞太區董事總經理陶博宏(Mark Talbot)表示，分銷基礎設施正抑制零售需求。

“Where ETFs have grown — in the US and Europe — there is a big ecosystem of financial advisers,” he says. “You need a more advisory model. But until you see people paying for advice rather than paying for commissions, it is hard to see when it will take off.”

“在ETF壯大的地區（美國和歐洲），有一個龐大的理財顧問生態系統，”他表示，“你需要一個更加依靠顧問的模式。但在你看到人們爲建議付費（而不是支付佣金）之前，很難設想它何時起飛。”

In the US, he adds, ETFs emerged into a market where there were lots of registered investment advisers incentivised to use lower-cost products for their clients.

他補充稱，在美國，在ETF興起之際，市場上有很多註冊投資顧問，他們有動力爲客戶選用成本較低的產品。

Mr Talbot notes that regulators in Japan are encouraging fee-based sales with a new fiduciary code and other measures that will play to the low-cost appeal of ETFs.

陶博宏指出，日本監管機構正在鼓勵基於收費的銷售模式，出臺了新的受信規則和其他措施，這些舉措將會增強ETF的低成本吸引力。

Regulators in other countries will draw lessons from the success or failure of the Japanese model.

其他國家的監管機構將以日本模式的成功或失敗爲借鑑。

Elsewhere, Australia recently introduced reforms that have increased transparency around fund pricing, which has driven rapid growth in ETFs.

在其他地方，澳大利亞最近推出了提高基金定價透明度的改革措施，這推動了ETF的快速增長。

Marco Montanari, the head of passive asset management for Asia-Pacific at Deutsche AM, agrees that fundamental changes to distribution must be made before the Asian ETF market can move to the next level.

德銀資產管理公司(Deutsche AM)亞太區被動型資產管理部門主管馬爾科?蒙塔納裏(Marco Montanari)也認爲，在亞洲ETF市場邁向更高臺階之前，必須從根本上改革分銷制度。

“Australia stands out as a market that boomed when reform allowed it to switch from a commission-based model to a fee-based one,” says Mr Montanari. “This would be a game changer in Asia.”

蒙塔納裏表示：“澳大利亞表現突出，它在從佣金模式轉爲收費模式後蓬勃發展。這將是一件改變亞洲ETF市場遊戲規則的事情。”

Susan Chan, head of iShares Asia-Pacific at BlackRock, says ETFs are more popular among institutional investors in the region.

貝萊德(BlackRock)的iShares亞太區主管陳蕙蘭(Susan Chan)表示，ETF更受該地區機構投資者的歡迎。

The retail side, she says, “is nascent and a mixed bag”. All countries in the region have a lot of work to do, she says, adding the Australian example has proven that regulatory changes can make a significant difference to generating pockets of interest.

她說，零售業務“起步不久，好壞參半”。她表示，亞太所有國家都有大量工作要做，並補充稱，澳大利亞的事例證明，就吸引散戶興趣而言，監管改變可以帶來顯著不同。

“All the regulatory bodies are looking to do this and more transparency is always welcome. But whether they get there is different,” she says. “Regulators talk about more transparency and lower fees but very little in terms of law.”

她說：“所有監管機構都在考慮這麼做，提高透明度始終是可喜的。但能否做到則是另一回事。監管機構談論提高透明度並降低費用，但在立法方面沒什麼進展。”

Even if Asian countries introduced regulation similar to that of thriving ETF markets elsewhere in the world, there are other hurdles. Mr Montanari says, for example, that most products presented to Asian investors relate to equities in their domestic market so the ETFs are not being used to give investors local exposure to foreign markets.

即便亞洲國家推出了在其他國家推動ETF市場蓬勃發展的監管措施，也仍存在其他障礙。例如，蒙塔納裏表示，提供給亞洲投資者的產品大多與國內市場的股票掛鉤，因此ETF沒有被用來讓投資者在國內投資於外國市場。

Yan Pu, head of portfolio review in Asia at Vanguard, suspects the Asian product mix may be holding things back. For example, Asian providers offer plenty of equity ETFs but very few fixed income products. In the US, she notes, fixed income ETFs are growing rapidly.

先鋒(Vanguard)的亞洲投資組合審查主管Yan Pu懷疑，亞洲的產品結構可能阻礙了ETF的發展。例如，亞洲ETF公司提供大量的股票ETF產品，但很少有固定收益產品。她指出，在美國，固定收益ETF增長迅速。

She argues, however, that the problems with lower liquidity of ETFs in Asia are a symptom of a fund distribution system that fails to incentivise ETF sales by intermediaries. “I don't think there is a quick fix, but you would see a pick-up if Asia moves to a fee-based model,” she says.

然而，她辯稱，亞洲ETF流動性較低的問題反映了基金分銷體系未能激勵中介銷售ETF。她說：“我認爲沒有快速的解決辦法，但如果亞洲轉向收費模式，會出現起色。”

The companies that have tried — and so far failed — to create a sustained ETF boom in Asia say the need for wholesale reform suggests the market will be defined by a protracted effort to convince both the regulators and customers to redraw the scenery.

試圖推動亞洲ETF持續繁榮但迄今未獲成功的公司表示，有必要從根本上改革似乎表明，市場將由說服監管機構和客戶重塑行業格局的長期努力定義。

But that may be overly pessimistic, says Mr Talbot. “Things in Asia do have a habit of moving faster than we think,” he says.

陶博宏表示，這可能過於悲觀了。他說：“亞洲的情況往往比我們想象的更快變化。”