ETF Database » BKF

BRIC ETFs And Missed Opportunity

Michael Johnston — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:00:07 +0000

Most risky asset classes have generally posted impressive three year performance figures at this point, delivering huge gains in the 36 months or so since equity markets bottomed out during the last financial crisis. Just about every equity index is well in positive territory for the latest three year stretch, thanks to improving economic fundamentals and a general return of risk appetite among investors–even if some jitters remain. Generally speaking, emerging markets have lead the way higher over this period; these securities were among the biggest losers during the sell-offs of late 2008 and early 2009, so they had the most ground to reclaim once markets finally bottomed out and began to head higher. So it’s no surprise that BRIC ETFs have some eye-popping performance figures; the MSCI BRIC Index Fund (BKF) is up about 105% over the past three years, while EEB and BIK have generally similar results. Investors [...]

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ETF Insider: Beating The Market In A Rocky Week

Eric Dutram — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 10:34:33 +0000

This past week was another rocky one for global markets as worries over Greece temporarily subsided in the middle of the week only to reappear in Friday trading. This resurgence came as a result of several members of Parliament declaring their intentions to vote against the austerity bill, leaving the measure uncertain to pass to say the least. Investors also focused on worries over Italian debt and banks in Italy as well; some are fearing that a credit downgrade is coming not only to the largest banks in the nation but to the country itself as well. Thanks to these fears over a contagion spreading to one of the world’s ten largest economies, many investors were running for cash before the bell to close out the week. To top things off, the Federal Reserve also met this past week, announcing an end to the QE2 program as anticipated at the end of the month. However, [...]

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ETF Insider: Risks Remain In Europe

Eric Dutram — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:37:26 +0000

This week saw many investors go bargain hunting in the first two days of the week as fears over a Greek default temporarily subsided. Many had focused in on the Greek Prime Minister and a crucial vote that took place earlier in the week in which the Parliament voted on if it had confidence in his leadership. Thanks to being the chairman of the largest party in the legislature, George Papandreou passed this crucial test. Markets rose in anticipation of this event as most had expected him to remain in power, however, the real test comes next week when the government must push further austerity measures through in order to secure more bailout funds from the richer European powers. Thanks to this slight reduction of risk, investors scooped up equities across the board in Monday and Tuesday trading, as well as the beginning of Wednesday’s session as well. Yet this did [...]

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ETF Insider: Tread Lightly In Uncertain Times

Eric Dutram — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:40:42 +0000

Thanks to stock markets managing to finish in the green for the week, at least in the S&P 500 and the DJIA, some are beginning to think that the recent downtrend in markets is finally over. However, any hope of a surge this week could be cut short by a continuation of the Greek debt crisis, especially if it spreads to other highly indebted nations in the region. Amid this shaky environment, many of our trading ideas from last week performed well, although our commodity pick experienced weakness thanks to a surging dollar. With a key Fed meeting and more information on the euro crisis, this is shaping up to be a very important week for markets, hopefully giving stocks a solid direction heading into the third quarter. With this backdrop, we highlight some of the other key data releases this week as well as few possible trades that investors could make [...]

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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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Four Little Known Secrets Of Ultra-Popular ETFs

Michael Johnston — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:20:30 +0000

Over the last year, a tremendous increase in the amount of ETF education has significantly reduced the likelihood of misuse by professional or amateur investors. By now, hopefully everyone knows that the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) doesn’t actually buy and hold natural gas and that USO’s underlying assets don’t include barrels of crude oil. But still, the research done by many ETF investors stops at the fund’s name, and perhaps a cursory look at the expense ratio. While the transparency and simplicity of most ETFs allow investors to get away with going light on the diligence, this doesn’t always hold true. Below, we take a look under the hoods of four ETFs to discover some surprising nuances about a number of exchange-traded funds. 4. The Truth About “Country-Specific” ETFs The rise of the ETF industry has allegedly brought nearly every corner of the globe within reach of millions [...]

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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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ETF Database » BKF

BRIC ETFs And Missed Opportunity

Related Posts:

ETF Insider: Beating The Market In A Rocky Week

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ETF Insider: Risks Remain In Europe

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ETF Insider: Tread Lightly In Uncertain Times

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Here’s An Idea: Small-Cap BRIC ETF

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BRIC ETF Investing: Small Cap Edition

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Does South Korea Belong In Your Emerging Markets ETF?

Related Posts:

Four Little Known Secrets Of Ultra-Popular 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

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