February 08, 2008 at 3:00 pm by Tom Lydon
There’s no direct exposure to Israel via exchange traded funds (ETFs) - at least not yet. What’s an investor to do?
Zack Miller for Israel Opportunity Investor says that the SPDR Emerging Middle East (GAF) is the best chance to capture exposure to the market at this point. The fund is heavily weighted in three countries especially: South Africa at 65%, Israel at 17% and Egypt at 6%.
Israel, while not putting up the huge growth that other countries have been in the last year, has still giving good numbers: close to 4-5% GDP growth.
Several opportunities to invest in Israel directly could be coming soon. Many investors are wary of the country, though, because of the political risks, says Gary Gordon for ETF Expert. He says the First Israel Fund (ISL) is a closed-end fund (CEF) gives a fairly diversified exposure to the Israeli economy that comes with a 6% dividend. Teva Pharma (TEV) has the top spot at a 10% weighting.
As for Israel ETFs, several are currently in registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC):
