State Street Bank and Trust Company has decided to retire as trustee for the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong ( TraHK ), more than 25 years after the launch of one of the world’s largest exchange-traded funds.  

“TraHK was the first ETF in Asia and we are immensely proud of, and grateful for, our partnership with Exchange Fund Investment Limited and the TraHK Supervisory Committee,” the US bank says in a statement. “We will work together with the TraHK Supervisory Committee and Hang Seng Investment Management Limited to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities to the new trustee.”

The move comes three years after Hang Seng Investment Management replaced State Street Global Advisors Asia ( SSGA ) as manager of TraHK.

The fund, with a market capitalization of HK$164.20 billion ( US$20.92 billion ), came into being in 1999 after the Hong Kong SAR government decided to dispose of the huge equity holdings it amassed to defend the dollar peg during the Asian financial crisis the previous year. 

Relations between SSGA and the HKSAR government hit a bump after Washington imposed sanctions on certain Chinese companies, including some of the constituents of TraHK, leading to the appointment of Hang Seng Investment Management as manager of the fund in 2022.

In its statement, the US bank says: “State Street established its business in Hong Kong more than 40 years ago and Hong Kong remains important to State Street. We are committed to the Hong Kong financial community and our more than 300 employees will continue to provide a full range of best-in-class services and solutions to our clients in Hong Kong.

“We are confident that our experience, scale and global footprint will enable us to serve clients in Hong Kong, Greater China and across Asia-Pacific long into the future, as we have been privileged to do for the past four decades.”

TraHK closed 0.55% higher at HK$25.56 on Thursday ( August 7 ). The benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.69% at 25,081.63.