8 More Active ETFs by JPMorgan Available to Singapore Investors

Ongoing fees for these funds are 0.2% to 0.4%, on a par with those for passive ETFs

- Benjamin Lim

Singapore investors have a range of new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) benchmarked against the S&P 500 on Wall Street and MSCI World indexes.

JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has registered eight more active ETFs here, including the world's largest active fixed-income ETF, it noted on August 18.

This brings the total number of JPMAM-managed active ETFs registered here to 11. All are available to local investors, although none is listed here.

Unlike passive ETFs that aim to replicate the performance of a specific market index that is tracked automatically, active ETFs are managed by professional portfolio managers who make decisions about asset allocation, stock selection and timing.

They are designed to outperform the market to deliver potentially higher returns, while passive ETFs operate on a buy-and-hold principle based on the belief that consistently outperforming the market over the long term is challenging.

Active ETFs are also flexible in the areas they invest in, allowing them to potentially achieve better risk-adjusted returns compared with passive strategies, particularly in volatile or declining markets. But this also means they could command much higher management fees than their passive counterparts.

JPMAM's website notes that ongoing fees for these funds range from 0.2 per cent to 0.4 per cent, on a par with average management fees for passive ETFs.