Vietnam’s outlook is bright

Article Excerpt

MARKET VECTORS VIETNAM ETF $14.25 (New York symbol VNM; buy or sell through brokers) holds Vietnamese companies and foreign firms that get a significant amount of their revenue from Vietnam. The ETF’s top holdings are Vincom Corp. (real estate), 7.8%; Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, 7.5%; Masan Group (a food, resources and banking conglomerate), 6.5%; Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank, 6.3%; and Baoviet Holdings (insurance), 6.1%. The ETF cuts risk by investing part of its assets in firms that are based outside of Vietnam but still do business there. That’s a better approach than adding thinly traded or illiquid shares of smaller Vietnamese firms. Investing in Vietnam still comes with aboveaverage political risk. Even so, the long-term outlook for the country’s economy is positive. Vietnam is also making steady progress on political and economic reforms. The country’s economy could grow by 6.7% in 2016. Market Vectors Vietnam ETF is a buy for aggressive investors. investors…