New Zealand FMA grants first ‘investment passport’ under ARFP to Smartshares Limited
New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has approved Smartshares Limited as a passport fund under the Asia Region Funds Passport (ARFP).
ARFP is a multilateral agreement between New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Thailand and The Republic of Korea that allows investors and managed funds from those countries to do business more easily. The initiative facilitates the offering of liquid and well-diversified managed funds among the signatory economies. Smartshares is the first fund manager to be approved under the ARFP.
NZX-owned Smartshares will now be able to offer its approved fund for distribution in Australia, Thailand, Japan, or Korea according to the rules specified in the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC).
ARFP was launched on 1 February 2019. Local schemes can apply to be registered as a passport fund and foreign passport funds can apply for permission to offer their funds in New Zealand. This means that fund managers from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Thailand and Korea can offer eligible products to investors in each other’s economies, bringing more choice and competition to managed fund markets in the Asia/Pacific region.