May 12, 2008 at 3:00 pm by Tom Lydon
The Middle East is the latest hot spot for exchange traded fund (ETF) investors.
WisdomTree has filed for a Middle East Dividend Fund, which includes exposure to Bahrain, Dubai, Egypt, Jordon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Although the prospectus does not list the weightings, Roger Nusbaum for Seeking Alpha says he found that 54% of the market caps are greater than $2 billion.
Frontier markets are the next category that will offer investors opportunity, and the Middle East is ripe for the taking. PowerShares also has a frontier fund in the making, so it is time that we see more of these funds coming to market.
Other ETFs that currently offer exposure to this area of the globe:
- iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (EIS), up 7.6% since March 28 inception
- iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund (TUR), up 4.5% since April 1 inception
- SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (GAF), down 1.3% year-to-date
Tags | Egypt, Emerging Markets, Frontier Markets, Israel, Kuwait, Middle East, Turkey
