Two ETFs in fast-growing markets

Article Excerpt

ISHARES FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25 INDEX FUND $32.17 (New York symbol FXI; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the stocks in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. Some also trade as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the New York exchange. The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 10.3%; China Construction Bank, 8.4%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 7.6%; CNOOC, 7.0%; Bank of China, 5.9%; China Telecom, 4.8%; China Unicom (Hong Kong), 4.6%; China Life Insurance, 4.6%; China Shenhua, 4.3%; and China Petroleum and Chemical, 4.0%. The fund’s holdings give it the following industry breakdown: Financials, 53.1%; Telecommunications, 19.7%; Oil and Gas, 14.6%; Basic Materials, 9.8%; and Industrials, 1.9%. Its expense ratio is 0.72%. China’s economy grew at a rate of 9.2% in 2011. It has slowed since then, but it is still forecast to grow by 8.0%…