CGSI Securities Singapore launches first ETF tracking SGX’s small and mid-cap stocks
[SINGAPORE] CGS International (CGSI) Securities Singapore is launching the first exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of small and mid-cap counters on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Called the CGS Fullgoal Singapore Next 50 ETF, the actively managed equity fund is benchmarked to the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, which tracks the performance of the next 50 largest SGX mainboard-listed companies beyond the 30 largest stocks.
At least 80 per cent of the fund’s portfolio will be invested in Next 50 constituents, while up to 20 per cent of the ETF may be invested in the broader Singapore equity market, which can include other companies listed in the Straits Times Index (STI).
The ETF is expected to list on the SGX mainboard on Sep 3 under the stock code Q50, with the initial offer period commencing on Thursday (Aug 6) at S$1 a share and ending on Aug 26.
A complement to the blue-chip STI
The CGS Fullgoal Singapore Next 50 ETF offers investors a way to diversify their holdings beyond Singapore’s blue-chip index, said James Ong, group head of asset management at CGSI Singapore.
“(By investing in) individual counters within the Next 50 index, volatility levels are about 30 per cent. However, within a Next 50 portfolio, the portfolio volatility is reduced to 12 per cent,” Ong told The Business Times ahead of the fund’s launch.
The fund comprises a portfolio of between 30 and 50 counters and is rebalanced monthly.
The portfolio is actively managed, with its constituents scored and ranked according to valuation, growth, market, earnings surprise, analyst sentiment and earnings quality.
Ong said the CGS Fullgoal Singapore Next 50 Active ETF helps investors cover “the whole spectrum of the economy in Singapore”.
“We are looking at this ETF as one that completes the STI family in a Singapore portfolio…which brings investors closer to the 50 companies beyond the blue-chips (on SGX), and sectors which are underrepresented in the STI in one trade,” he added.
Singapore’s small and mid-cap counters have received a boost since the Equity Market Development Programme started deploying funds in November 2025.
Technology, healthcare and Reits
As at Jul 30, real-estate investment trusts (Reits) account for the largest share of the ETF at 36.7 per cent.
Keppel Infrastructure Trust , CDL Hospitality Trusts , Starhill Global Reit and CapitaLand Ascott Trust are among the top 15 holdings of the portfolio.
But beyond Reits, the fund will also give investors access to technology and consumer stocks in Singapore, said Ong.
“Nearly 20 per cent of the constituents of the Next 50 Index are allocated to healthcare and technology plays – as compared to the STI’s less than 1 per cent technology sector weightage,” he noted.
Key technology counters in the index include UMS Integration , Frencken Group and AEM .
Raffles Medical Group and analgesic brand Haw Par make up the healthcare weightage of the index.
The portfolio can, however, still have “off-benchmark overlays” of an approximate 20 per cent weightage for rebalancing purposes, via STI names such as Keppel , DBS and Venture .
The value of an active ETF
Ong noted that the return dispersion of the Next 50 index can be as large as 200 per cent.
Such a significant dispersion level will therefore require positions for active allocations to capture opportunities with strong valuation signals, he added.
To that end, allocating 20 per cent of the ETF’s portfolio to counters outside the Next 50 constituents gives the fund manager greater flexibility to reduce exposure to stocks that may drag on performance, he noted.
It also increases holdings in better-performing companies among the SGX’s top 50, he said.
Fullgoal Asset Management (Hong Kong) is the investment adviser for the active ETF.
Its parent Fullgoal Fund Management managed 888.5 billion yuan (US$132 billion) across 422 public funds as at Dec 31, 2025, excluding money market funds.
