A “frontier” economy that likely flies under the radar but is now represented in two separate exchange traded fund is that of Poland.
Market Vectors Poland (NYSEArca: PLND) debuted in late 2009, and is composed of 25 equities that are headquartered or derive at least half of their revenues in Poland. The index is currently very heavy Financials, with a 34.02% weighting followed by Utilities (14.07%), Basic Materials (13.50%), and Energy (13.18%) as the top weighted sectors.
BlackRock’s iShares responded in mid 2010 with iShares MSCI Poland Investable Market Index (NYSEArca: EPOL) which, as its name suggests, tracks an MSCI based index and has a similar makeup to PLND.
From a sector standpoint, the top weightings are as follows: Financials (38.54% weighting), Basic Materials (16.63%), Utilities (12.80%).
Top holdings in these two funds demonstrate some replication as well, as EPOL’s top 3 holdings are PKO (11.64%), KGH (10.42%), and PZU (10.07%). PLND’s top 3 are PKO (8.18%), PEO (6.71%), and PZU (6.67%).