ICICI Prudential appoints Asia Index to maintain new CPSE ETF

Leading index provider Asia Index has been appointed by ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company to design and maintain the index for the second Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) exchange traded fund comprising public sector undertakings stocks.
In September, ICICI Prudential AMC had been appointed by the government to manage the new ETF in the current fiscal.
"Divesting from publicly listed companies has been a key agenda item for the government.
"We are delighted to partner with ICICI to create a new vehicle for the disinvestment process as well as increasing the passive investing footprint in India," Asia Index MD and CEO Alka Banerjee said in a statement.

According to BSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan, the exchange is "pleased to be a part of this venture and provide a platform to grow the passive investing experience for the retail investor".
The government had first launched a CPSE ETF in March 2014 under which retail investors have to invest a minimum of Rs 5,000 to buy units. It had raised Rs 3,000 crore through the ETF then.

CPSE ETF, which was originally managed by Goldman Sachs MF, was acquired by Reliance MF in October 2015. The finance ministry, in September, had given its nod to the transfer of management of CPSE ETF to Reliance Mutual Fund.

Apart from the existing CPSE ETF, the government is planning to create a new ETF comprising stocks of PSUs in the current fiscal with an estimated corpus of Rs 6,000 crore.
It has already appointed ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund to manage the second CPSE ETF.
Asia Index is a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE.