The era of the ETF (Exchange Trading Fund) for equities is upon us. The first one will be the FBM30 (FTSE Bursamalaysia 30 index) to be managed by Aminvestment. Few comments are in order here:

• This should be good for the market, provided the local institutions and retail embrace the product and change the mindset from gambling on tips and rumours or insider trading.
• FBM30 futures should be launched side by side. This is a logical extension, as the fund manager will be the natural hedgers.
• The manager should learn from Barclays on how to make the market. This malyasian institution is terribly deficient in this area. Just look at the FKLI KL Composite Index Futures, the biggest local institutions are not in the market. Don't know why, maybe they are scared of beng wrong!