In recent years, emerging markets have been established as the clear leaders of global GDP growth, while the economies of the U.S. and western Europe have stalled. Developed markets are facing stubbornly high unemployment and limited flexibility thanks to mounting debt burdens, while emerging markets continue to race ahead. In a recent economics paper, Goldman Sachs re-examined the prospects of emerging markets, and struck an extremely bullish tone for the future. Goldman’s report makes numerous bold (but well supported) claims, including the expectation of China to surpass the US in equity market capitalization by 2030 and become the single largest equity market in the world. The report also notes that emerging markets currently account for 37% of global GDP, but that that percentage will increase to 49% by 2020 and 59% by 2030 [see ETFs For The "Next-11" Economies]. [click to continue…]
With 2011 just around the corner, the curtain is closing on yet another year of tremendous expansion in the ETF industry. With inflows for the year at close to $100 billion, total ETF assets will recently eclipsed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. From a product development standpoint, 2010 was a record year; [...]
Emerging markets ETFs have become tremendously popular in recent years, as investors frustrated by the stagnant growth in the developed world have been lured in by the impressive economic expansion occurring in the developing world. Though there are many options available, the most popular way to play emerging markets is through VWO or EEM; two [...]
Van Eck announced on Wednesday the latest addition to its ETF product lineup, rolling out the Market Vectors Small Cap India ETF (SCIF). The new ETF will seek to replicate the performance of the Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index, a benchmark that includes about 120 constituents with an average market capitalization of approximately $450 million.
To say that the current environment is a challenging one for investors is quite the understatement. With Europe teetering on the brink of a sovereign debt crisis, a “new normal” low growth environment in the U.S., and increasing anxiety over government policies in China, there are numerous potholes in the road ahead for many of [...]
One of the greatest spectacles in sports kicks off in South Africa over the weekend, with 32 countries gathering to compete in the final stages of the World Cup. Even the economists of the world have taken an interest in the upcoming matches; ABN Amro recently released a note predicting that the world economy would [...]
IndexIQ announced on Tuesday the launch of the IQ Taiwan Small Cap ETF (TWON), the firm’s fourth product focusing on international small cap stocks. TWON will track the IQ Taiwan Small Cap Index, a cap-weighted benchmark that includes small cap companies domiciled and primarily listed on stock exchanges in Taiwan. The underlying index consists of [...]
The first three months of 2010 saw dozens of new ETF product launches, but things really headed up in April. This past month saw the launch of more than two dozen ETFs, making it the most active month of 2010. PowerShares and ProShares were particularly active on the product development front, debuting a number of [...]
Over the last two years, many investors have become acutely aware of the significant differences in the growth profiles of the world’s developing economies relative to advanced nations. Historically perceived as risky investments, emerging markets have now been firmly established as the primary source of global GDP growth, creating a surge in interest among U.S. [...]
Van Eck, the New York-based ETF issuer behind several of the most successful new product launches in recent years, introduced the Market Vectors Latin America Small-Cap Index ETF (LATM) on Wednesday. LATM, which will seek to replicate the performance of the Market Vectors Latin America Small-Cap Index, will be the first U.S.-listed ETF offering exposure [...]
Van Eck, the New York-based ETF issuer known for its hard assets and targeted international funds, has filed for a new ETF focusing on small cap stocks in Latin America. The Latin America Small-Cap ETF (LATM) would track the Market Vectors LatAm Small-Cap Index, a modified cap-weighted benchmark designed to track the performance of publicly-traded [...]
