FTSE Russell Launches Asia Pacific Government Bond Index Series to Enhance Liquidity and Risk Management in Regional Markets

FTSE Russell Launches Asia Pacific Government Bond Index Series to Enhance Liquidity and Risk Management in Regional Markets

(IN BRIEF) FTSE Russell has launched the FTSE Asia Pacific Liquid Government Bond Index Series, a new benchmark suite designed to track liquid local currency government bonds across India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Covering three, five, and 10-year maturities, the index focuses on recently issued bonds to ensure liquidity and transparency. The series is intended to support the development of derivatives and investment products, including Asia Pacific Government Bond Futures on the Singapore Exchange. By offering a standardised and investable benchmark, the initiative aims to help investors better manage risk, track performance, and access opportunities in the region’s growing fixed income markets.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 31-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — FTSE Russell has introduced the FTSE Asia Pacific Liquid Government Bond Index Series, a new set of benchmarks aimed at tracking the performance of liquid government bonds across key Asia-Pacific markets. The launch reflects growing investor demand for transparent and standardised tools to access and manage exposure to the region’s expanding fixed income landscape.

The index series focuses on local currency-denominated government bonds and is constructed using securities selected from the broader FTSE Asia Pacific Government Bond Index (APGBI). By concentrating on recently issued or reopened bonds, the benchmarks prioritise liquidity while maintaining a consistent and transparent methodology.

At launch, the series covers five major emerging fixed income markets—India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand—and includes three standard maturity segments: three-year, five-year, and 10-year tenors. This structure is intended to provide investors with targeted exposure across key yield curve points in these economies.

The new benchmarks are also designed to support the development of financial instruments, including exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives. In particular, the index series will serve as the underlying reference for Asia Pacific Government Bond Futures to be listed on Singapore Exchange, enabling market participants to manage interest rate risk and portfolio exposure more efficiently.

Scott Harman, Global Head of Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities at FTSE Russell, said the launch highlights the company’s focus on delivering reliable and transparent benchmarks that align with the evolving needs of global investors. He noted that the emphasis on liquidity and standardisation allows market participants to better track performance, manage risk, and explore opportunities within Asia’s rapidly developing bond markets.

William Chin, Head of Rates and Derivatives at SGX Group, highlighted the increasing importance of Asia’s government bond markets within global portfolios. He pointed out that as investor participation continues to grow, the need for investable and liquid benchmarks becomes more critical to support price discovery and efficient risk transfer.

The index methodology excludes non-conventional instruments such as green, social, sustainability, and retail bonds, as well as sukuk, to ensure consistency and comparability. From the eligible universe, the most recently issued or reopened bonds within each country and maturity segment are selected and equally weighted, reinforcing the focus on liquidity and transparency.

With this launch, FTSE Russell aims to strengthen the infrastructure supporting Asia-Pacific fixed income markets, providing investors with tools to better navigate and participate in the region’s evolving capital markets.

About FTSE Russell, an LSEG business

FTSE Russell is a global index leader that provides innovative benchmarking, analytics and data solutions for investors worldwide. FTSE Russell calculates thousands of indexes that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 70 countries, covering 98% of the investable market globally.

FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally. Approximately $19.89 trillion is benchmarked to FTSE Russell indexes. Leading asset owners, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks choose FTSE Russell indexes to benchmark their investment performance and create ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.

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