The number of Asian companies facing disruption through technology poses difficulties for the development of a sustainable exchange-traded fund market in the region, according to Schroders’ head of Asian equities, Lee King Fuei. Almost half of the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan indexes are weighted to companies that are under attack from fintech, he said, putting benchmark investment under pressure and potentially destroying investors' wealth. "ETFs seem to be all about buying tomorrow’s winners and not necessarily about buying the stocks that will do well yesterday," he said.
The number of Asian companies facing disruption through technology poses difficulties for the development of a sustainable exchange-traded fund market in the region, according to Schroders’ head of Asian equities, Lee King Fuei. Almost half of the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan indexes are weighted to companies that are under attack from fintech, he said, putting benchmark investment under pressure and potentially destroying investors' wealth. "ETFs seem to be all about buying yesterday’s winners and not necessarily about buying the stocks that will do well tomorrow," he said.