Rising food demand spurs these two funds

Article Excerpt

With yearly revenue of $4 trillion, the global agriculture industry offers enormous opportunities for firms ready to satisfy growing food demand. (For more on agriculture, see supplement, page 10.) VANECK VECTORS AGRICULTURE AGRIBUSINESS ETF $59 (New York symbol MOO; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $831.4 million) tracks the MVIS Global Agribusiness Index and provides exposure to companies involved in the business of agriculture. Those operations are diverse, including companies focused on agri- chemicals, animal health, fertilizers, farming equipment and commodities trading. The fund invests globally, with 52% of its portfolio holdings in the U.S. and another 25% divided among Canada, Japan, Norway and Australia. Altogether, the ETF holds a portfolio of 57 stocks: These are mainly large-cap companies, including Monsanto (U.S.: agricultural products), Deere, Zoetis (U.S.: animal health), Archer Daniels Midland (U.S.: food processing), Kubota (Japan: equipment manufacturing), Tyson Foods (U.S.: food processing), and Potash Corp. (Canada: fertilizers). The fund launched in August 2007. Its MER is 0.53%. The current fund size is…