MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $21.48 (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 holdings are Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, 7.8%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 7.4%; Masan Group (food, resources and banking conglomerate), 7.3%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 6.3%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemical, 5.7%; Baoviet Holdings (finance and insurance), 5.6%; and PetroVietnam Technical Services (oilfield services), 5.4%.
Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 35.8%; Energy, 23.4%; Industrials, 12.6%; Consumer Staples, 11.6%; Consumer Discretionary, 8.3%; Materials, 5.7%; and Utilities, 1.3%. Its expense ratio is 0.72%.
The ETF cuts its risk by investing part of its assets in firms that are based outside Vietman but still do business there. That’s a better approach than adding thinly traded or illiquid shares of smaller Vietnamese companies.
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.
