Motilal Oswal AM launches US equities-based ETF

NEW YORK: Motilal Oswal Asset Management has launched India's first US equities-based exchange traded fund that track the stocks in the NASDAQ-100 Index.

Motilal Oswal Asset Management chief Nitin Rakesh rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ Stock Market yesterday to seal the deal on MOSt Shares NASDAQ 100, the exchange traded fund (ETF) that was listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange today.

"This is the first time Indians can access the biggest market in the world," Oswal told PTI.

"We're breaking new ground ...we're creating an asset class that didn't exist before," he added, noting that everyone carried around a bit of NASDAQ in their pocket.

The NASDAQ 100 Index has the top 100 domestic and international non-financial securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market including companies like Amazon.com, Intel, Microsoft and Blackberry.

The Indian companies listed on NASDAQ include Infosys Technologies Ltd, Make My Trip, Rediff.com India, and Sify Technologies Ltd.

Noting that resident Indians could now invest in companies like Apple, Starbucks and Google, Harry Tutwiler, Vice President of the NASDAQ OMX Group, called it an "amazing accomplishment."

Oswal noted that he had spent the past nine months working out the details of the operation with US regulators as well as educating the Indian market of the opportunity this presented.

"If people are used to buying one asset class ... it was important to explain how they could diversify," he said.