MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $21.72 (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 Masan Group (food, resources and banking conglomerate), 7.9%; Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.6%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 6.9%; Baoviet Holdings (finance and insurance), 5.8%; PetroVietnam Fertilizer & Chemical, 5.7%; PetroVietnam Technical Services (oilfield services), 5.7%; and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (an Indian oil and gas firm), 4.8%.
Market Vectors Vietnam ETF’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 37.0%; Energy, 25.4%; Industrials, 12.5%; Materials, 9.1%; Consumer Discretionary, 7.5%; Consumer Staples, 3.8%; and Utilities, 3.1%. Its expense ratio is 0.76%.
The ETF cuts its risk by investing part of its assets indirectly, by buying shares of 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.
