MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $18.22 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.
The ETF’s top holdings are Vincom Corp. (real estate), 8.2%; Masan Group (a food, resources and banking conglomerate), 7.6%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 7.2%; Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, 6.4%; Hansae Co. (a South Korean clothing maker), 5.6%; Charoen Pokphand Foods (a Thailand-based food conglomerate), 5.1%; Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (conglomerate), 4.7%; and Premier Oil (a U.K.-based producer with stakes in the huge Cuu Long basin off southern Vietnam), 4.6%.
The Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 42.5%; Consumer Staples, 16.8%; Energy, 15.7%; Consumer Discretionary, 11.1%; Industrials, 6.6%; Materials, 4.6%; and Utilities, 2.6%. Its MER is 0.76%.
The ETF cuts risk by investing part of its assets in firms that are based outside of Vietnam but still do business there. That’s a better approach than adding thinly traded or illiquid shares of smaller Vietnamese companies.
Investing in Vietnam continues to entail aboveaverage political risk. Still, the long-term outlook for the country’s economy is positive. Vietnam is also making steady progress on political and economic reforms.
Market Vectors Vietnam ETF is a buy for aggressive investors.
