MSCI Inc. has licensed the MSCI China A Index to China Asset Management Co. (ChinaAMC) for a new exchange traded fund, the ChinaAMC MSCI China A ETF, to be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in March.

With over US$50 billion in assets under management, ChinaAMC is one of the largest asset managers in the mainland, and launched the first ever ETF there in 2005. The ChinaAMC MSCI China A ETF is the first ETF to be listed in China that tracks a China A index from an international index provider.

"We chose to license the MSCI China A Index as the basis for our new ETF for two reasons: MSCI's globally recognized brand, and the broad and diverse coverage offered by the index," said Li Yi Mei, chief marketing officer, ChinaAMC. "We believe that the combination of these factors will make the ChinaAMC MSCI China A ETF an efficient and appealing investment vehicle for both domestic and international investors wishing to invest in China."

"We believe that the licensing of the MSCI China A Index to ChinaAMC, a firm with a leading position in China, is testament to the growing franchise that MSCI has built since opening our office in Mainland China in 2007," said Theodore Niggli, head of MSCI's Index business in Asia-Pacific. "The MSCI China A Index is the benchmark for a number of QFII funds used by international investors to invest in China, and we are sure that China based investors will also see value in its broad and diversified coverage."

The MSCI China A Index is constructed based on the same methodology as the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes. This consistency of methodology allows investors to analyze the opportunity set of the China A shares market in the same manner as other global equity markets. Key features of the MSCI China A Index include:

* Targets 85% free float market capitalization coverage

* Broad industry representation

* Current number of index constituents is 5,232