ETF Spotlight: Market Vectors Russia (RSX)

ETF Spotlight on Market Vectors Russia (NYSEArca: RSX), part of a weekly series.

Assets: $961 million

Objective: RSX seeks to track the performance of the DAXglobal Russia Index.

Holdings: The fund’s top holdings include gas company Gazprom, 7%; Lukoil Company, the largest oil company in Russia, 6.4%; and Sberbank Rossi, the largest bank in Russia, 7.7%.

What You Should Know

• RSX is up 134.6% year-to-date, making it the best-performing unleveraged ETF so far.
• RSX is most heavily weighted in energy companies, and these holdings make up 43% of the fund.
• The iron and steel sector is 16.5% of the fund and telecommunications is 13.3%.
• The fund is mostly made up of large-caps, with 83% of the weighting. Mid-caps are about 10% and small-caps are around 6.7%.
• The expense ratio is 0.62%.

The Latest News

• For the first time in 14 months, Russian manufacturing grew in September as new business and output expanded, reports Alex Nicholson for Bloomberg. Moscow-based bank VTB Capital reported the Purchasing Managers’ Index advanced from 49.6 to 52 last month. A reading above 50 means growth.
• The Russian economy is dominated by resources and banking, comments Levi Folk for Financial Post. Thanks to OPEC production quotas, Russia is now the largest oil producer globally.
• Economists believe Russia’s GDP growth may gain a foothold as soon as the fourth quarter because of fiscal stimulus. Additionally, the economy will pick up speed once oil prices increases and world economies recover.
• On Sept. 29, the Central Bank reduced its main interest rate to prod lending.