3 more HK blue chips on SGX for bite-size investments

Their entry brings total number of Hong Kong SDRs to 8, and comes as interest grows

- Chor Khieng Yuit

Retail investors in Singapore can invest directly in three more blue chip companies listed in Hong Kong from March 5.

The three are Ping An Insurance, an integrated financial, healthcare and eldercare service provider in China; Xiaomi, the world's third-largest smartphone vendor; and Meituan, the biggest online food delivery platform in China.

The Singapore depository receipts (SDRs) of these three Hong Kong companies will be traded on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), joining five other Hong Kong SDRs that started trading earlier, on Oct 30, 2024. The five are tech giants Alibaba.com and Tencent, electric carmaker BYD, state-owned Bank of China and HSBC.

SDRs are financial instruments that represent ownership in a foreign stock or security, but which are listed on the SGX. The concept is similar to American depository receipts of non-US companies listed on the US stock exchanges.

SGX Group noted that the eight Hong Kong SDRs make up more than 40 per cent of the benchmark Hang Seng Index and cover sectors from technology to consumer and financials.

This allows retail investors to ride on thematic trends such as the growth in artificial intelligence (AI), the global shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), and the rise in e-commerce activities, while at the same time benefiting from the stability and dividend yields offered by financials.

The first batch of eight SDRs in Singapore were linked to blue chip companies in Thailand and were launched on May 30, 2023, and April 1, 2024, enabling investors here to invest in Thai companies through the SGX.

They cover more than 40 per cent of the benchmark SET50 Index and eight sectors. The eight Thai SDRs are linked to:

• Telco conglomerate Advanced Info Service;