Outlook is bright for Vietnam

Article Excerpt

MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $15.09 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds Vietnamese companies and foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from the country. The ETF’s top holdings are Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 8.9%; Vingroup (conglomerate), 7.7%; Masan Group (a food, resources and banking conglomerate), 6.8%; Hao Phat Group (industrial conglomerate), 6.6%; and Bao Viet Holdings (insurance), 5.8%. The fund cuts risk by investing part of its assets in firms that are based outside of Vietnam but do business there. That’s a better approach than adding thinly traded, or illiquid, shares of smaller firms. Investing in Vietnam still comes with aboveaverage political risk. However, the U.S. recently lifted a ban on arms sales to Vietnam as part of a plan to counter Chinese territorial claims in the region. The move should help normalize relations between these former enemies. It also bodes well for boosting exports to the huge U.S. market. Market…