The future’s bright for India’s top companies

Article Excerpt

Apart from the immediate challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, India faces a weak health-care system, poor infrastructure, and is only very slowly implementing much-needed economic and political reforms. Still, the country is home to a number of top global companies with bright futures. Here’s an ETF that provides you with exposure to many of those top publicly listed Indian companies. ISHARES INDIA INDEX ETF $45.47 (Toronto symbol XID; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $57.6 million) tracks the performance of the largest publicly listed Indian companies. The fund invests all its assets in the iShares India 50 ETF (Nasdaq symbol INDY), which is a much larger fund and has a lower MER. Currency exposure is not hedged, which means the fund will gain from a rising Indian rupee, as well as from gains in the stocks it holds. Financials account for 37% of the ETF’s assets, while Technology (17%), Energy (13%), Materials (8%), Consumer Staples (7%), and Consumer Discretionary (7%) are also important segments. The…