ETF Database » BIK

Here’s An Idea: Small-Cap BRIC ETF

Michael Johnston — Fri, 20 May 2011 11:00:59 +0000

As the ETF industry has continued to expand at a breakneck pace, the introduction of first-to-market products has become somewhat commonplace. Well more than 100 ETFs have debuted this year, many of them targeting an asset class or investment strategy not previously accessible within the ETF wrapper. Recent weeks have seen the debut of the first car ETF, a pure play fishing ETF, and a bond ETF dedicated to debt of Latin America issuers. Unlike the reaction to hyper-targeted funds that have debuted in years past, investors have given many of these niche products a relatively warm reception. In addition to the hundreds of new launches, the ETF product pipeline has continued to fill as well. SEC filings have accelerated in recent weeks, with issuers planning a wide variety of additional funds that offer sector-specific exposure to international economies and tools for playing narrow investment themes withing the U.S. market. [...]

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BRIC ETF Investing: Small Cap Edition

Michael Johnston — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:52 +0000

In recent years interest in achieving exposure to emerging markets has intensified tremendously, as the developing economies of the world have established themselves as the clear leaders of GDP growth while advanced economies have struggled to regain their footing. While there are dozens of countries that fall under “emerging” status, exposure to this investment strategy has generally focused around the BRIC bloc that includes four economies expected to see their contribution to global GDP swell in coming decades. The BRIC economies–Brazil, Russia, India, and China–have very little in common in terms of geography, culture, or even the makeup of their respective economies. The term was originally coined by a Goldman Sachs economist who had never visited three of the four countries but believed that the collective economies would grow to eventually surpass the six largest western economies in terms of economic size and importance. What seemed like a ludicrously bold [...]

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Does South Korea Belong In Your Emerging Markets ETF?

Eric Dutram — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:00:38 +0000

When considering the equity allocation of an investor portfolio, perhaps the most common bifurcation made is between developed and emerging markets. The distinction between developed and emerging markets has become a hot topic in recent years thanks to the tremendous gaps in growth and risk between the two groups. As developed markets have struggled to get on track thanks to mounting debt burdens and rising unemployment, emerging markets have raced ahead and posted eye-popping growth figures thanks to favorable demographic shifts and a swelling middle class. To many investors the distinction between these two asset classes may seem straightforward. Developed markets are advanced economies with higher quality of life, sophisticated financial markets, and generally wealthier populations—such as the U.S. and Western Europe. Emerging economies are home to financial markets with fewer investor protections and standardized processes and to populations that tend to be less educated and more rural. But determining [...]

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How Global Are Global ETFs?

Michael Johnston — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:05:19 +0000

When mutual funds broke on to the investing scene, they won praise for their ability to pool assets and efficiently deliver exposure to a large basket of underlying securities. ETFs, while different from mutual funds in many ways (see five of them here), generally share this appeal; they offer an even more cost efficient way to access a pool of assets through the purchase of a single security. Besides the obvious cost benefits of an all ETF-portfolio, the idea of monitoring only a handful of holdings is a welcome and simplifying development for many investors. So the thought of constructing a well-diversified portfolio with only a handful securities isn’t as ludicrous as it may sound, and is in fact put into practice by all types of investors. ETFdb Pro members can access our line of all-ETF model portfolios, all of which maintain between seven and 12 ETFs (if you’re not [...]

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This Week in ETFs: October 30th Edition

Eric Dutram — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:23:25 +0000

It’s been an interesting week in the world of ETFs: U.S. equity markets ended the week on a sour note with most benchmarks down about 2%. Here are the ETF Database staff picks of the week’s most important and interesting stories from around the Web: Equity-Based Commodities: Better Than Futures? at Index Universe: This article discusses how equity ETFs that invest in companies operating in the commodities industry have performed much better than some exchange-traded commodity products. The author motes that “the futures-based S&P GSCI Commodity Index, for instance, delivered a spot return through September of 33 percent. But once you account for contango, the spot return is just 4.7 percent.” It also highlights two of the more popular funds in the segment, HAP and CRBQ, and discusses the main differences between the two ETFs. A must read for anyone interested in commodity investing and considering the use of ETFs [...]

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Definitive Guide to BRIC ETFs: BRIC ETF Investing 101

Eric Dutram — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:18 +0000

With sluggish growth forecasted for the next few quarters an unemployment rate quickly approaching 10%, many U.S. investors are looking beyond their borders for new investment opportunities. While developed European and Asia Pacific economies have received a significant amount of attention, the most popular investment destinations remain the four largest emerging market countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China, collectively known as the “BRIC” economies. Together, these four countries currently comprise 40% of the world’s population and 15% of GDP, ensuring that they will be a force to be reckoned with on the global stage for years to come. Meanwhile, combined foreign reserves total over $3.1 trillion, potentially allowing these countries to influence world trade and push politics more towards a multipolar world. Historically, it has difficult for many American investors to access BRIC equity markets directly; most have relied primarily on the few stocks that trade as American Depository Receipts [...]

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Thawing Relations Boost Russia ETFs

Michael Johnston — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:32:17 +0000

The Cold War may have ended decades ago, but relations between the U.S. and Russia have never fully recovered. In recent years, tensions between these world powers have been particularly strained, as the countries clashed on issues including democracy, missile defense, NATO expansion, and independence for Kosovo. Concerns of armed conflict and nuclear war are long gone, but mutual distrust and unease between the former Cold War opponents has remained. Relations sank to a post-Cold War low during the Bush administration, but president Obama has made clear his intentions to “reset” relations with Russia. Recent events suggest that tensions may finally be thawing. Obama Scraps Missile Defense System Last week, Obama announced that he was abandoning plans for a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia, which perceived the plans as a threat to its security and a major hurdle to an updated Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, welcomed [...]

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BRIC ETFs In Focus: Obama In Russia, Unrest In China

Michael Johnston — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:02:42 +0000

In addition to numerous earnings reports and key economic releases on the home front, U.S. investors have several international situations to monitor this week, ranging from elections in Indonesia to the ongoing dramas in Iran and Honduras. As if that wasn’t enough, two BRIC nations are also in the headlines Monday, as Russia welcomes president Obama for high-stakes diplomatic talks and China struggles to contain civil unrest in its northern provinces. As these international situations play out, several international ETFs could see some big movements. Diplomacy In Moscow Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Obama to the Kremlin on Monday for a two-day summit that will touch on a broad range of issues but focus primarily on the strategic nuclear weapon reserves held by the former Cold War adversaries. The two sides are expected to unveil an agreement to reduce the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons to as few as 1,500, from [...]

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ETF Database » BIK

Here’s An Idea: Small-Cap BRIC ETF

Related Posts:

BRIC ETF Investing: Small Cap Edition

Related Posts:

Does South Korea Belong In Your Emerging Markets ETF?

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How Global Are Global ETFs?

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This Week in ETFs: October 30th Edition

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Definitive Guide to BRIC ETFs: BRIC ETF Investing 101

Related Posts:

Thawing Relations Boost Russia ETFs

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BRIC ETFs In Focus: Obama In Russia, Unrest In China

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