Milan, Italy – 21 July 2021 – Krane Funds Advisors, LLC (“KraneShares”), a global asset management firm known for its China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and innovative China investment strategies, today announced the cross-listing of the euro-denominated KraneShares ICBCCS SSE STAR Market 50 Index UCITS ETF (KSTR IM) on Borsa Italiana, part of the Euronext Group.

KSTR seeks to track the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index. The Index comprises the 50 largest companies listed on the SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board (SSE STAR Market) as determined by market capitalization and liquidity.

As China has quickly become a world leader in innovation, the Shanghai Stock Exchange developed the STAR Market to promote China’s high growth publicly-listed science and technology companies. The SSE STAR Market includes companies from industries such as new-generation information technology, biomedicine, new energy, and environmental protection.

Since its establishment in July 2019, the SSE STAR Market has become one of the largest IPO markets globally and a premier listing venue for prominent Chinese “unicorns” – privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion. In just over a year, the SSE STAR Market facilitated 200 companies to raise $44 billion.¹ The increase in fund-raising activity on Chinese exchanges last year is mainly attributable to new SSE STAR Market listings, which accounted for 47% of capital raised across China’s Mainland A-Share market in 2020.²

“By listing KSTR in Italy on the Borsa Italiana, we are providing Italian investors a way to access companies that we believe represent China’s future leaders across industries powering the growth engine of China for decades to come,” said Jonathan Krane, CEO of KraneShares. 

“We are happy to work with Borsa Italiana Stock Exchange and KraneShares to provide overseas investors access to the SSE STAR Market where companies from China’s high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries cluster,” said Harry Fu Hao, Managing Director of Global Business Development Department at the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

“Borsa Italiana is delighted to welcome KSTR to support investor demand to capture investment opportunities internationally.  We continue to see a very positive pipeline of issuers and products, cementing our position as a leading trading and listing venue for ETFs and other exchange traded products, with an AUM for ETFplus that recently set the new record of €113.64 billion.” said Silvia Bosoni, Head of Listing ETFs, ETPs and open funds at Borsa Italiana.

"The growth of the Italian ETF industry and Italian investors' strong demand for China-focused UCITS ETFs make Italy a key strategic growth market for KraneShares," said Dr. Xiaolin Chen, Head of International at KraneShares. "We are pleased to announce the listing of KSTR on the Borsa Italiana, which further expands our local presence in Italy."

KSTR was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2021 and is the first ETF that provides European investors direct access to China’s SSE STAR Market³. KSTR is KraneShares’ second ETF to cross-list on the Borsa Italiana, following the euro-denominated share class of the KraneShares CSI China Internet UCITS ETF (KWEB IM) in January 2021.

Corresponding with KraneShares expansion in the region, the firm hired Paolo Iurcotta as Head of Italy. Paolo has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He was involved in the ETF industry since its launch in Europe. Before joining KraneShares, Paolo worked for Société Générale, where he was a senior sales manager covering Italian financial institutions on a broad range of financial products, with a particular focus on equity derivatives, equity cash, and ETFs. He also previously worked at Merrill Lynch and Citibank in Italy.

For more information about KSTR, visit kraneshares.eu/kstrln or email [email protected].

About KraneShares
Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is the investment manager for KraneShares ETFs. Our suite of China-focused ETFs provides investors with solutions to capture China's importance as an essential element of a well-designed investment portfolio. We strive to deliver innovative, first-to-market strategies developed based on our strong partnerships and deep knowledge of investing. We help investors stay up to date on global market trends and aim to provide meaningful diversification. Krane Funds Advisors, LLC, is a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investing (UN PRI). The firm is majority owned by China International Capital Corporation (CICC). 

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