“Morningstar ETF Intelligence 2011” for Hong Kong was held on 5 September 2011. With over 100 delegates joining the luncheon, both Conrad Cheng, Chief Investment Officer of Lippo Investment Management and John Gabriel, Morningstar ETF strategist, started off the event by sharing their views on the latest development and investment strategies on ETFs.

As Conrad Cheng pointed out during his speech, the development of the ETF markets in Asia has traditionally revolved around the supply dynamics, as observed by the increasing number of new launches over the past years. On the other hand, demand for ETFs did not match up to the increasing supply, signifying a low acceptance rate by Asian investors. He further added that this phenomenon is not unique to Asia, citing U.S as a precedent when ETFs were first introduced there. ETFs only gained traction when institutional investors such as asset managers, hedge funds, pension funds and insurance companies began investing in these products.