Safest way to buy Vietnam

VANECK VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $14.75 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds Vietnamese companies and foreign firms that get a significant share of their revenue from the Southeast Asian nation.

The ETF’s top holdings are Vingroup (conglomerate), 8.6%; Vietnam Dairy Products, 7.9%; No Va Land Investment Group (real estate), 6.7%; the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 5.9%; and Masan Group (a food, resources and banking conglomerate), 5.4%.

Investing in Vietnam still comes with aboveaverage political risk. However, the fund cuts risk by investing part of its assets in firms that do a lot of their business in Vietnam, but are based elsewhere. That’s a better approach than adding the thinly traded, or illiquid, shares of smaller domestic firms.

Market Vectors Vietnam ETF is a buy for aggressive investors.

Scott is an associate editor at TSI Network. He is the lead reporter and analyst for Dividend Advisor, Power Growth Investor and Canadian Wealth Advisor and a member of the Investment Planning Committee. Scott began his investment and financial career working with Pat McKeough at The Investment Reporter in the 1980s. Subsequently, he worked at the Financial Post Corporation Service for 10 years. He joined TSI Network in 1998. He is a Bachelor of Economics graduate of York University, and he also has an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business.