INTERVIEW-Taiwan's Polaris eyes Shanghai-listed ETF

Published: 19 Nov 2009 22:41:00 PST

TAIPEI, Nov 20 - Taiwan's Polaris Group aims to introduce an exchange-traded fund (EFT) listed in Shanghai to Taiwan next year, days after Taiwan signed a financial services pact with China, an executive of its fund arm said on Friday.

Polaris International Seccurities Investment Trust, the group's fund unit, expected to grow its client assets by 30 percent in 2010 from T$160 billion ($5 billion) now, company president Julian Liu said.

The fund arm, among the island's three biggest, also aimed to double the size of its ETF <0061.TW> tracking China stocks to T$20 billion, Liu told Reuters in an interview.

The ambitious move by Polaris comes after Taiwan and China inked a financial deal on Monday, allowing the island's financial firms to tap the Chinese market and opening the way for banks on both sides to invest in each other. (For complete coverage of the deal, double click [ID:nTP214843])