Ways to Play Taiwan With ETFs

Taiwan is a fast-growing emerging market that often gets lost in the hubbub over giants like China, Russia and Brazil. Taiwan has a sensitive relationship with China, but that’s no reason to dismiss the various exchange traded funds (ETFs) that can give you a play on this island nation.

Thanks to their transparency and versatility, ETFs are a good way to play Taiwan and harness the growth anticipated for the coming year. This weekend, Taiwan reported a 9.2% surge in fourth-quarter GDP, and a 4.7% growth rate is expected in 2010. The ETF Professor on Benzinga reports that with numbers like that, there are several ETFs that investors may want to take a look at. [How Taiwan is Regaining Its Growth.]

For more stories about Taiwan, visit our Taiwan category.

• iShares MSCI Taiwan Index (NYSEArca: EWT): Trades 13.6 million shares per day and is up 80% in the past year. EWT has $3.37 billion in assets and an expense ratio of 0.82%



• SPDR S&P International Dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DWX): DWX is also far less liquid than EWT, trading less than 45,000 shares a day, but remains an interesting option for investors looking for Taiwan exposure mixed with some other countries combined with the allure of global dividends. Devotes about a third of its country weight to Taiwan.



• WisdomTree Emerging Markets Small-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: DGS): DGS doesn’t have the volume or assets that EWT has, but of the three choices mentioned here, DGS has the best sector diversification with six sectors accounting for roughly 84% of the ETF’s weight. About one-third of the fund is weighted to Taiwan. [Can China Stunt Taiwan's Growth?]