Commerzbank takes ETF market making to Thailand

Extending its exchange-traded fund (ETF) market making across Asia, Commerzbank has become the first foreign market maker in Thailand. The German bank announced market making for four ETFs in the country, all of which are listed in the US and cross listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

Commerzbank market makes over 80 ETFs listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, and has been expanding the ETFs listed on SGX for which it makes markets. “Our strategy with ETFs is to diversify in all markets, and where there is a niche we try to be there and to be aggressive,” said Antoine de Saint Vaulry, head of ETF and flow trading Asia at Commerzbank in Hong Kong. “Our strategy is to bring liquidity to all ETFs, on all asset class, both OTC and on exchange. We're aiming to expand to other Asian markets gradually.”

The German bank is market making for four ETFs in Thailand, issued by Maybank Asset Management (Thailand): the Maybank US ETF, Maybank Euro ETF, Maybank Japan ETF, and Maybank Emerging ETF, which are all US ETFs that are listed on the SET. The Maybank ETFs are Thai-listed exchange-traded feeder funds, investing in US listed ETFs.

Six local providers in Thailand were offering 17 ETFs with assets of US$163 million at the end of November, according to Deborah Fuhr, managing partner at EFGI in London. The top two ETF providers of the six account for 81.6% of Thailand’s ETF assets, while the remaining four providers each have a less than 7% market share, she said.

One AM is the largest ETF provider in terms of assets, with $93m and a 57.2% market share; Krung Thai AM has assets of $40m and a 24.4% market share; BBL AM has $10m of assets and 6.4% market share.

ETFs in Thailand are generally bought by international and local asset managers, according to De Saint Vaulry.