This year has not been kind to the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA). This technology-focused ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) was arguably a favourite of growth investors for many years, thanks to some impressive returns in its early days.
But this year has been especially brutal for this ETF. Since the dawn of 2022, BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers units have lost a painful 35%. That's based on yesterday's closing price of $6.15.
Since the ETF's all-time high of over $14 a unit that we saw back in early 2021, the fund is down more than 56%.
Now, one might assume this may have something to do with China. After all, the world's second-largest economy has arguably been undergoing some changes in investors' perceptions in the past year or two.
Between trade wars with the United States, tensions over the Taiwan Straight, and the country's zero-COVID policies, investors have had a lot of fat to chew.
But exactly how exposed to the Chinese market is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF?
How exposed is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF to China?
Well, let's go to the source. According to the provider, as of 30 September, the Asia Tigers ETF's portfolio was weighted 55.2% towards companies domiciled in China. That was far higher than any other country. That includes Taiwan at 20.2% and South Korea at 15.9%.
We can see this reflected in the ETF's major holdings. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group was by far the fund's largest individual holding. It accounted for a whopping 10.2% weighting in its portfolio.
Another Chinese giant – Tencent Holdings – made up 9.3%, while Pinduoduo Inc and JD.com Inc accounted for a further 6.1% and 5%, respectively.
So we can rather decisively conclude that this ETF is heavily exposed to the Chinese markets.
And this partly explains why this ETF has had such a rough trot in 2022 thus far. Alibaba stock is down a nasty 36.35% so far this year. Tencent is faring even worse, sitting at a 45.5% loss.
Thus, it seems that the Asia Tigers ETF has been hit hard by its heavy exposure to the Chinese markets in 2022 so far. But who knows what the future might bring.
The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF charges a management fee of 0.67% per annum. It has now returned an average of 3.21% per annum since its inception in September 2018.
