China’s CSOP Asset Management has become the first fund house to launch a Hong Kong exchange traded fund (ETF) product targeting the metaverse investment theme.
The CSOP Metaverse Concept ETF will invest mainly in US-listed companies that are directly or indirectly involved in technology that backs products or services that will aid the development of the augmented reality of the metaverse.
The ETF is Hong Kong’s first metaverse-focused fund. Meta Platforms, the newly rebranded parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was its largest holding, at 6.38%.
Other top holdings include online gaming platform and developer Roblox, artificial intelligence group Nvidia and gaming company Unity as well as veteran tech companies Apple, Snap, Sony and Tencent.
CSOP said the ETF’s investment universe comprises 46 most representative metaverse leaders with a combined market capitalisation of $5.2 trillion as of February 3.
Global Investor Interest
Facebook rebranded as Meta in October 2021 in a bid to reflect a new focus on the building of the metaverse as a digital extension of its social media platform.
The move has raised global investor interest in the development of the metaverse, although Meta itself has seen its share price plunge this month after Facebook reported its first fall in 18 years of daily active user numbers.
CSOP AM said it is confident that the creation of the metaverse is a thematic that provides a long-term opportunity for investors.
“The metaverse represents the beginning of a new era, the birth of a parallel new world,” He Xian, vice president of CSOP, said.
“As the newest member of CSOP’s themed ETF series, the CSOP Metaverse Concept ETF is our bold attempt to provide our investors with the most advanced investment opportunities.”
According to CSOP, its back-tested CSOP Metaverse Concept Portfolio has risen 345% since the start of 2019, more than twice as much as the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 Index, which has increased 149%over the same period.
- George Russell