HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 15, 2024--
CSOP Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF (3133.HK) will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 16, 2024. In seeking to achieve its investment objective, 3133.HK will invest at least 90% of its NAV in the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 Exchange-traded Open-end Index Securities Investment Fund (the “Master ETF”) via the QFI status granted to the Manager and/or the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. With listing price of approximately HKD 7.8 per unit, board lot of 100 units, 3133.HK has received an initial investment of RMB 51.1 million.
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At the beginning of 2024, a slew of foreign financial institutions are bullish on Chinese stock market and have upgraded their ratings 1. Meanwhile, the northbound fund flows have been positive for three months in a row since February, hit a new record high in April, indicating strong overseas investment interest in A-share 2. Analysis suggests that China's stock market is benefiting from four major tailwind factors: the "national team" purchasing A-share ETFs to boost funds and confidence; the introduction of the once-in-a-decade new 'Nine Guidelines for Capital Market' policy, and the A-share buybacks and dividends continue to accumulate; quarterly GDP growth in China has beat expectations, with steady earnings recovery; the price-earnings ratio of the CSI 300 index is lower than its 20-year historical average, making A-share highly attractive for investment 3.
Since late 2023, state-owned financial firms led by Central Huijin and China Securities Finance Corp have been investing heavily in A-share ETFs, especially CSI 300 ETFs 3. The policy-driven funds of the "national team" have often intervened to support the capital market, which is seen as a sign to stabilize the stock market. According to UBS estimates, since 2024, policy-driven funds have injected more than RMB 410 billion (around USD 57 billion) into A-share, 75% of which went to CSI 300 ETFs 4. The Master ETF's quarterly report reveals that Central Huijin added 26.356 billion shares in the first quarter of 2024, amounting to approximately RMB 88.8 billion 5.
The CSI 300 Index (the "Index") serves as a benchmark for China's A-share stock market, tracking 300 largest and most liquid companies in China's A-share stock market to comprehensively reflect overall market performance. The median return on equity (ROE) range of the Index has consistently exceeded 10% over an extended period 6. Since 2020, the Index has incorporated new stocks from the SSE's STAR Market and relaxed listing year requirements for SZSE's ChiNext Market stocks. Currently, the Index constituents are well-balanced across cyclical industries, technology, large financials, and consumer sectors. The Master ETF, the world's largest CSI 300 ETF, manages over RMB 190 billion and sees an average daily turnover exceeding RMB 4.6 billion this year 7.
Ms. Ding Chen, CEO of CSOP Asset Management, stated, "As a widely recognized fund management company, we are delighted to offer Hong Kong investors the opportunity to invest in top-quality assets in China. CSOP Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, which tracks the world's largest CSI 300 ETF, is the optimal solution for investing in China A-share. CSOP is dedicated to continuous innovation and remains committed to providing our clients with valuable and distinctive ETF products."
About CSOP
CSOP is a leading ETF issuer in Hong Kong SAR, with a wide range of product offerings across equity, fixed income, leveraged and inverse, thematic, money market, and virtual assets. In Q1 2024, 5 out of 10 of the most traded ETFs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange are CSOP-issued products*. Innovation and leadership are deeply rooted in CSOP’s DNA as we strive to bring first-of-its-kind products to the market, educate investors about ETF trading, and never stop looking for ways to improve trading efficiencies.
CSOP’s commitment to cross-border initiatives and collaborations is unwavering. We are the only product issuer participating in all the ETF connectivity programs between mainland China and Hong Kong SAR, capturing an 69.08% market share of the aggregate southbound AUM**, as well as the first issuer to participate in the China – Singapore Cross-border ETF Link Scheme.
* Source: 2024/01/01-2024/03/28, Bloomberg.
** Source: HKEX, SZSE, SSE, Bloomberg, as of 2024/06/28.
Disclaimer
This document is for general information only and do not constitute investment or any other kind of advice in any way and shall not be considered as an offer or solicitation to deal in any investment products. Investment involves risk. Investors should refer to the Prospectus and the Product Key Facts Statement for further details, including product features and risk factors. Investors should not base on this document alone to make investment decisions. Investors should consult their own advisors before engaging in any transaction. CSOP which prepared this document believes that information in this document is based upon sources that are believed to be accurate, complete and reliable. However, CSOP does not warrant the accuracy or completeness. This document is not legally binding, and CSOP shall not be liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred. This document is not directed to, intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution, availability or use would be contrary to local law or regulations, or which would subject CSOP to any registration or licensing or other requirement, or penalty for contravention of such requirements within such jurisdiction. For the Index Provider Disclaimer, please refer to the Product’s offering document. This document is prepared by CSOP and has not been reviewed by the SFC in Hong Kong.
Issuer: CSOP Asset Management Limited
1 Source: Collation of research and media reports.
2 Source: iFinD, as of 2024/4/26.
3 Source: Collation of research and media reports.
4 Source: UBS, Caixin.
5 Source: Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 Exchange-traded Open-end Index Securities Investment Fund quarterly report.
6 Source: Wind, as of 2023/11/30.
7 Source: Wind, as of 2023/04/26.
CSOP Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF (3133.HK) (Graphic: Business Wire)
POINTE À LA HACHE, La. (AP) — Oil company Chevron must pay at least $740 million to restore damage it caused to southeast Louisiana's coastal wetlands, a jury ruled on Friday following a landmark trial more than a decade in the making.
The case was the first of dozens of pending lawsuits to reach trial in Louisiana against the world’s leading oil companies for their role in accelerating land loss along the state’s rapidly disappearing coast. The verdict – which Chevron says it will appeal – could set a precedent leaving other oil and gas firms on the hook for billions of dollars in damages tied to land loss and environmental degradation.
Jurors found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh.
The jury awarded $575 million to compensate for land loss, $161 million to compensate for contamination and $8.6 million for abandoned equipment — a total of $744.6 million. Including interest from when the lawsuit was filed in 2013, the amount earmarked for restoration exceeds $1.1 billion, according to attorneys for Talbot, Carmouche & Marcello, the firm behind the lawsuit.
The parish had asked for $2.6 billion in damages.
“No company is big enough to ignore the law, no company is big enough to walk away scot-free,” the plaintiff’s lead attorney John Carmouche told jurors during closing arguments.
A 1978 Louisiana coastal management law mandated that sites used by oil companies “be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition” after operations ended. Older operations sites that continued to be used were not exempt and companies were expected to apply for proper permits.
But the oil company did not obtain proper permits and failed to clean up its mess, leading to contamination from wastewater stored unsafely or dumped directly into the marsh, the lawsuit said.
The company also failed to follow known best practices for decades since it began operating in the area in the 1940s, expert witnesses for the plaintiff’s testified. The company “chose profits over the marsh" and allowed the environmental degradation caused by its operations to fester and spread, Carmouche said.
Chevron's lead trial attorney Mike Phillips said in a statement following the verdict that “Chevron is not the cause of the land loss occurring” in Plaquemines Parish and that the law does not apply to “conduct that occurred decades before the law was enacted.”
Phillips called the ruling “unjust” and said there were “numerous legal errors.”
The lawsuit against Chevron was filed in 2013 by Plaquemines Parish, a rural district in Louisiana straddling the final leg of the Mississippi River heading into the Gulf of Mexico, also referred to as the Gulf of America as declared by President Donald Trump.
Louisiana’s coastal parishes have lost more than 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) of land over the past century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which has also identified oil and gas infrastructure as a significant cause. The state could lose another 3,000 square miles (7,770 square kilometers) in the coming decades, its coastal protection agency has warned.
Thousands of miles of canals cut through the wetlands by oil companies weakens them and exacerbates the impacts of sea level rise. Industrial wastewater from oil production degrades the surrounding soil and vegetation. The torn up wetlands leave South Louisiana – home to some of the nation’s biggest ports and key energy sector infrastructure -- more vulnerable to flooding and destruction from extreme weather events like hurricanes.
Chevron’s lead attorney, Mike Phillips, said the company had operated lawfully and blamed land loss in Louisiana on other factors, namely the extensive levee system that blocks the Mississippi River from depositing land regenerating sediment — a widely acknowledged cause of coastal erosion.
The way to solve the land loss problem is “not suing oil companies, it’s reconnecting the Mississippi River with the delta,” Phillips said during closing arguments.
Yet the lawsuit held the company responsible for exacerbating and accelerating land loss in Louisiana, rather than being its sole cause.
Chevron also challenged the costly wetlands restoration project proposed by the parish, which involved removing large amounts of contaminated soil and filling in the swaths fragmented wetlands eroded over the past century. The company said the plan was impractical and designed to inflate the damages rather than lead to real world implementation.
Attorney Jimmy Faircloth, Jr., who represented the state of Louisiana, which has backed Plaquemines and other local governments in their lawsuits against oil companies, told jurors from the parish that Chevron was telling them their community was not worth preserving.
“Our communities are built on coast, our families raised on coast, our children go to school on coast,” Faircloth said. “The state of Louisiana will not surrender the coast, it’s for the good of the state that the coast be maintained.”
Carmouche, a well-connected attorney, and his firm have been responsible for bringing many of the lawsuits against oil companies in the state.
Louisiana’s economy has long been heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry and the industry holds significant political power. Even so, Louisiana’s staunchly pro-industry Gov. Jeff Landry has supported the lawsuits, including bringing the state on board during his tenure as Attorney General.
Oil companies have fought tooth and nail to quash the litigation, including unsuccessfully lobbying Louisiana’s Legislature to pass a law to invalidate the claims. Chevron and other firms also repeatedly tried to move the lawsuits into federal court where they believed they would find a more sympathetic audience.
But the heavy price Chevron is set to pay could hasten other firms to seek settlements in the dozens of other lawsuits across Louisiana. Plaquemines alone has 20 other cases pending against oil companies.
The state is running out of money to support its ambitious coastal restoration plans, which have been fueled by soon-expiring settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and supporters of the litigation say payouts could provide a much-needed injection of funds.
Attorneys for the parish said they hope that big payout will prompt more oil companies to come to the table and engage in coastal restoration.
“We continue to fight to restore the coast,” said Don Carmouche, an attorney with the firm representing the parish and other local governments which have filed suit. “All the parishes want is for the companies to come together for reasonable restoration of the coast.”
FILE - Wetlands are seen from a helicopter on the Louisiana coast on July 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
FILE - This Tuesday, May 2, 2017, photo shows a Chevron sign at a gas station in Miami. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
