New Frontier Market Indexes Could Lead to More International ETFs

MSCI has launched a new index family and a new tradeable index. Does this mean that an exchange traded fund (ETF) family will follow? MSCI Frontier Market Indexes cover 19 markets, with new countries for inclusion on a semi-annual basis.

Heather Bell for Index Universe explains that frontier markets are generally smaller and less developed than emerging markets and have lower correlations with developed markets. These are seen as growth opportunities and include countries such as Romania, Vietnam and Kenya. In addition to the frontier markets, indexes will be created that mix the frontier markets indexes with the existing ones, making a whole new group of regional and global composite indexes.