The attractions of Mexico as a market for ETFs have come to the fore in recent weeks with both Amundi and State Street announcing ventures aimed at investors south of the border.
Mexico recently agreed a bilateral trade deal with the Trump administration that might yet save (or merely alter) Nafta. Seemingly taking advantage of the feel-good factor is Amundi which has announced its first-ever venture into the Mexican ETF space with selection of nine funds launched on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV).
Amundi said that it had seen a "dynamic uptake" in interest in ETFs across Latin America in recent years and that the new Mexican funds marked an important step in the group's development plans for the region. Fannie Wurtz, Managing Director of Amundi ETF, indexing and smart beta sales, said: "We are thrilled to establish further our presence in Latin America with these listings, to help Mexican investors in their asset allocation challenges."
Among the funds being offered to Mexican investors are plain-vanilla equity exposures to the S&P 500, Euro Stoxx 50, CAC 40, DAX and Japan Topix indices, as well as core Amundi ETF fixed income exposures to USD aggregate bonds and corporate bonds.
This first batch of listings also offers more exotic global smart beta equity products which have been built in partnership with the ERI Scientific Beta while on the fixed income side, a fund offering exposure to USD floating rate notes.
Gustavo Lozano, country manager for Amundi Mexico, said the funds offered institutions the "complete toolset" for them to help with their asset allocations. "In the long run, we are convinced Amundi ETF tools will meet our clients' search for diversification, innovation, and cost-competitiveness," he added.
Amundi is building out its international presence and is now a provider in 10 European countries as well as Hong Kong and now Mexico. The ETF business now contrls circa $112bn in AUM.
Gaëtan Delculée, global head of Amundi ETF, indexing and smart beta sales, said: "Launching in Mexico is a significant milestone for Amundi ETF, which is committed to offering Mexican investors a competitive range of quality and innovative equity and fixed income exposures."
Meanwhile, also catching the Mexican bug is State Street which announced last week that a further 29 SPDR ETFs, with a combined AUM of $33.6bn, have now been cross-listed on the BMV. A total of 74 peso-denominated SPDR ETFs have now been listed in Mexico since State Street embarked on cross-listing in Mexico.
"We are always looking for opportunities to improve access to the markets for investors around the globe, and these additional listings provide greater choice to our institutional clients in the region," said Kathryn Sweeney, head of SPDR Americas Institutional Sales.
"Having cross-listed the first SPDR ETFs on the BMV in 2006, the Mexican market has remained a strategic priority for over a decade, and we continue to strive to provide clients with the products and exposures that they have been asking for in this market."
