MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $18.89 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds shares of Vietnamese companies or foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam.
The ETF’s top 10 holdings are Pha Lai Thermal Power, 8.2%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 7.2%; Baoviet Holdings (finance and insurance), 7.1%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemical, 6.9%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 6.8%; Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, 5.3%; Gamuda Bhd (a Malaysiabased construction group), 5.2%; Minor International (a Thailand-based firm with hotels and fast-food restaurants in Vietnam), 4.4%; Vietnam Construction and Import-Export, 4.3%; and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an India-based oil and gas company), 4.2%.
Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 36.2%; Energy, 19.9%; Industrials, 14.5%; Materials, 10.0%; Utilities, 8.2%; Consumer Discretionary, 5.3%; and Consumer Staples, 3.7%. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.
Market Vectors Vietnam ETF cuts risk by investing part of its assets indirectly in Vietnam by buying shares of firms that are based outside the country but still do business there. That’s a better approach than adding thinly traded or illiquid shares of smaller Vietnamese firms.
Investing in Vietnam entails above-average 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
