Chinese and Global ADRs : The U.S. Investor Experience

We study outcomes to ADR investments between August 1954 and September 2020, with attention to ADRs associated with Chinese firms. Overall, ADRs improved investors’ wealth by $1.03 trillion, with more than a third of this amount attributable to ADRs associated with Chinese firms. A value-weighted portfolio of ADRs associated with Chinese firms earned 14.1% per year since the first Chinese ADR was created in 1993, as compared to 9.9% per year for the overall U.S. stock market over the same period. These data are relevant to current policy discussions focused on Chinese firms listed in the U.S