The head of iShares– the world’s top provider of exchange traded funds – has poured cold water on plans from MSCI and FTSE to include mainland Chinese equities on their global indices, which are tracked by trillions of dollars of assets.

全球最大的交易所交易基金(ETF)提供商安硕(iShares)的主管对摩根士丹利资本国际(MSCI)和富时(FTSE)在其全球指数中纳入中国股票的计划泼了一盆冷水。此类指数受到数万亿美元资产的追踪。

Mark Wiedman, iShares global chief and a member of BlackRock’s executive committee, told the Financial Times that without a significant opening of China’s capital account, adding Shanghai-listed shares – known as A shares – to widely followed indices would be in effect unworkable.

iShares全球主管、贝莱德(BlackRock)执行委员会成员马克•魏德曼(Mark Wiedman)对英国《金融时报》表示，在中国资本账户尚未显著开放的情况下，在得到广泛追踪的指数中纳入在上海上市的A股在实践上将是行不通的。

“The index has to be executable for it to be effective for clients, and that is the big issue when people talk about A-share inclusion. Not until you have capital account liberalisation does it make any sense for our clients,” said Mr Wiedman. “A-share inclusion feels like [it is] not on the very near-term horizon.”

“指数必须是可执行的，这样它才能对客户有效，这就是人们谈论纳入A股时面临的一大问题。只有在资本账户自由化之后，这么做才对我们的客户有意义。”魏德曼表示，“从目前的感觉看，纳入A股不像是短期内该做的事。”

MSCI last month launched a consultation with investors over its plans to include a small slice of mainland-listed shares in both its China index and its emerging markets index, which is tracked by funds worth about $1.5tn.

MSCI上月启动一轮投资者意见咨询，焦点是在其中国指数和新兴市场指数中纳入少量中国内地上市股票的计划；MSCI新兴市场指数受到大约1.5万亿美元基金的追踪。

At the time, MSCI highlighted “very significant developments” as Chinese regulators took steps to improve international access to domestic markets.

当时，MSCI着重指出了一些“非常重大的动态”，因为中国监管机构正采取措施扩大国内市场对外资的准入。

However, Chinese equities remain largely off-limits to global investors, who can access them only through a quota system managed by mainland regulators.

然而，中国股市仍基本上把全球投资者挡在门外，境外投资者只能通过由内地监管机构管理的配额制度投资于A股。

Although the total amount of foreign investment permitted under existing rules is more than $200bn, just $83bn worth of licences have been granted to date.

虽然现行规则允许的境外投资总额超过2000亿美元，但迄今发放的许可证总价值只达到830亿美元。

Even so, New York-based MSCI hopes to begin A-share inclusion from May next year although it has yet to make a final decision on whether to proceed. FTSE Group, MSCI’s British rival, also wants to add domestic Chinese shares to its global indices.

即便如此，总部位于纽约的MSCI仍希望从明年5月起纳入A股，尽管它尚未就此作出最后决定。MSCI的英国竞争对手富时集团(FTSE Group)也希望把中国国内股票加入其全球指数。

Mr Wiedman is not the first to express doubts about China’s potential addition to global indices. Mark Mobius, chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets, has described the MSCI plan as a “very bad idea”.

魏德曼并不是对中国股票加入全球指数的可能性表示疑虑的第一个人。邓普顿新兴市场(Templeton Emerging Markets)董事长麦朴思(Mark Mobius)曾形容MSCI的计划是一个“非常糟糕的主意”。

Mr Wiedman’s comments follow an initiative to provide mutual market connectivity the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, which has the potential to dramatically open up mainland markets.

魏德曼发表评论之前，香港交易所和上海证交所发起了两地股市互联互通的努力（即“沪港通”），此举有望戏剧性地打开内地市场。

Chinese and Hong Kong regulators last week revealed plans to allow investors on both exchanges access to hundreds of stocks in each other’s markets, essentially adding a new, simpler route into mainland China for global investors. iShares’ flagship Asian product is an exchange-traded fund tracking China’s A50 index, which includes both direct exposure to Chinese assets and synthetic exposure through derivatives.

中国及香港监管机构上周透露，拟允许两个交易所的投资者买卖对方市场的数百只股票，实质上为全球投资者增加了一条进入中国内地股市的更简单的新途径。iShares的亚洲旗舰产品是一只追踪中国A50指数的ETF，该基金既包括对中国资产的直接投资，也包括通过衍生品获得的合成敞口。

At more than $8.5bn, the A50 ETF – known locally simply by the stock code “2823” – is the largest in Asia, and one of the most traded securities on the Hong Kong exchange.

规模超过85亿美元的这只A50 ETF（在香港被人用其股票代码“2823”代称）是亚洲最大的ETF，也是港交所交易量最大的证券之一。

Mr Wiedman said that mutual market connectivity was unlikely to pose a serious threat to the A50 ETF’s success as it would still offer “simplicity and liquidity” for investors seeking China exposure, and that there were many unanswered questions about how the exchange link would work.

魏德曼表示，“沪港通”不太可能对A50 ETF的成功构成严重威胁，因为该ETF仍将为寻求中国敞口的投资者提供“简洁性和流动性”，与此同时，对于“沪港通”将如何运行还有很多尚未解答的问题。

Regulators hope to have the Hong Kong-Shanghai connection up and running in six months’ time.

监管机构希望“沪港通”在六个月内投入运行。