China and US Equity Analyst

Roger Xie

10 year investment experience on public and private equity. Deep-dive fundamental research. Specialize in China and US market.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing – China Plays Long Game With HKEx

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing – SPAC Time

Singapore Exchange – 50 Hits To Bottom-Line

HKEx(388.HK): Expect Slower Q2 Trading Volume, HKEx to Benefit As Offshore Venue for China Listings

HKEX to Launch MSCI China A50 Connect Index Futures: What's In The Index?

Gravity Works As WeWork Doesn't; Now Plan B

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>The long-awaited China A-share Index future finally received approval from regulators from both Hong Kong and China (<a href="https://www.hkex.com.hk/News/News-Release/2021/210820news?sc_lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news link</a>). The to-be-launched product is MSCI China A50 Connect Index, which is different from investors' expectation of MSCI China Index future. However, we still believe the move is a game changer for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a> derivative business as investors' increasing exposure in China A-share cash equity market and index future. This will also put a direct competition pressure on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/singapore-exchange-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1047:1" rel="noopener">SGX (SGX SP)</a> as its popular FTSE A50 Index future accounting around 17% of its total revenue. We believe offshore investors would like to gradually shift their China A-share Index exposure to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a> from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/singapore-exchange-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1047:1" rel="noopener">SGX (SGX SP)</a> </li>
<li>We estimate that ADV (Average Daily Volume) of MSCI China A50 Connect contract will be ramped up at 1.5-2.0x the volume of FTSE A50 at its launch, given the ADT (Average Daily Turnover) of stock connect northbound (China A-share cash equity market) has reached RMB 120bn. There is increasing demands from offshore investors for hedging and speculation. In a long-run, we believe ADV of MSCI China A50 could be more than 5x of ADV of FTSE A50 as offshore investors' exposure on China A-share cash equity grows. We expect the derivative business contribution to revenue at HKEx will likely grow to 25% from current 16%, which will reshape HKEx with more balanced revenue stream from both cash equity and derivative. </li>
<li>For 1H2021, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a> delivered a broadly in-line results. It reported 2Q2021 profits of HK$2.77bn, down 7% year-over-year. Cash equity ADT was quite strong and up 31% year-over-year, but down 34% from 1Q 2021. But the derivatives business did not have the same volume pick-up with HK derivatives ADV -5% year-over-year and LME ADV -2% year-over-year. We are the believer that HKEx will play a key role on offshore China listings. Ongoing regulatory uncertainty is likely to accelerate the Chinese ADS' to diversify their listing risk and to benefit HKEx as a preferred offshore listing venue.  We forecast <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a> Securities ADT of HK$240bn in FY 21 (excluding Stock Connect Northbound volume)  and remain bullish on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a>  and have TP HKD 550. </li>
</ul>


The long-awaited China A-share Index future finally received approval from regulators from both Hong Kong and China (news link). The to-be-launched product is MSCI China A50 Connect Index, which is different from investors' expectation of MSCI China Index future. However, we still believe the move is a game changer for HKEX (388 HK) derivative business as investors' increasing exposure in China A-share cash equity market and index future. This will also put a direct competition pressure on SGX (SGX SP) as its popular FTSE A50 Index future accounting around 17% of its total revenue. We believe offshore investors would like to gradually shift their China A-share Index exposure to HKEX (388 HK) from SGX (SGX SP) 
We estimate that ADV (Average Daily Volume) of MSCI China A50 Connect contract will be ramped up at 1.5-2.0x the volume of FTSE A50 at its launch, given the ADT (Average Daily Turnover) of stock connect northbound (China A-share cash equity market) has reached RMB 120bn. There is increasing demands from offshore investors for hedging and speculation. In a long-run, we believe ADV of MSCI China A50 could be more than 5x of ADV of FTSE A50 as offshore investors' exposure on China A-share cash equity grows. We expect the derivative business contribution to revenue at HKEx will likely grow to 25% from current 16%, which will reshape HKEx with more balanced revenue stream from both cash equity and derivative. 
For 1H2021, HKEX (388 HK) delivered a broadly in-line results. It reported 2Q2021 profits of HK$2.77bn, down 7% year-over-year. Cash equity ADT was quite strong and up 31% year-over-year, but down 34% from 1Q 2021. But the derivatives business did not have the same volume pick-up with HK derivatives ADV -5% year-over-year and LME ADV -2% year-over-year. We are the believer that HKEx will play a key role on offshore China listings. Ongoing regulatory uncertainty is likely to accelerate the Chinese ADS' to diversify their listing risk and to benefit HKEx as a preferred offshore listing venue.  We forecast HKEX (388 HK) Securities ADT of HK$240bn in FY 21 (excluding Stock Connect Northbound volume)  and remain bullish on HKEX (388 HK)  and have TP HKD 550. 


HKEx (388.HK): A-Share Index Future Launch, A Game Changer for HKEx Derivative Business