HSBC has partnered with passive asset manager Tabula Investment Management to help launch a new fixed income exchange traded fund (ETF) platform.
HSBC’s Securities Services business will provide a bundled outsourcing service to the platform operated by Tabubla, including fund administration, depositary and custody services, which will mostly include Irish-domiciled UCITS fund in the form of ETFs.
Tabula said it plans to launch a range of fixed income ETFs targeting pan-European investors, as passive investing evolves from equity-based ETFs to fixed income.
“We have invested heavily in both our ETF technology and people,” said Cian Burke, global head of HSBC Securities Services. “As a group, HSBC is hugely committed to the ETF business globally. We believe this appointment is an endorsement of this strategy.”
HSBC has built out a global ETF asset servicing business in recent years, in which it has largely connected investors to ETFs listed through China’s Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) trading programme.
The mandate with Tabula is also a big win for HSBC’s Ireland securities services business, according to HSBC Securities Services country head Tony McDonnell, which currently holds in excess of $200 billion in assets under custody and administration in Ireland.
“ETFs continue to contribute a large part of the growth in the European investment fund industry. Ireland is central to this development and we have worked very hard to ensure we are leaders in this space,” said McDonnell.