PSE, First Metro sign agreement for PHL's first ETF

The Philippine Stock Exchange has signed an agreement with First Metro ETF for listing of the first ever exchange traded fund (ETF) in the Philippines.

Under the agreement, First Metro will list its ETF, which will track PSE Index (PSEi), on Dec. 2.

An ETF is an investment fund that tracks indices, baskets of assets and commodities. Unlike a mutual fund, an ETF is traded on a stock exchange real-time during trading hours similar to regular stocks.

First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) said in June that it intended to list P3 billion worth of ETFs in the second half of the year.

 “This is the country's first ever ETF that would allow a lot of institutional investors to invest in the Philippine equity market without directly buying individual stuff but buying the index through the ETF," president Roberto Juanchito Dispo noted at the time.

Dispo recently said that the company may increase the market capitalization to P10 billion, and that First Metro ETF will sell ETF securities at par value of P100 per share.

First Metro units First Metro Asset Management Inc. and First Metro Securities Brokerage Corporation will be the ETF’s fund manager and principal distributor, and lead authorized participant and market maker, respectively.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the final set of guidelines for ETFs  proposed by the PSE in January, after the PSE invited public comment on the proposed rules. — BM, GMA News