The EGShares Beyond BRICs (NYSEArca: BBRC) completed its transition to the FTSE Beyond BRICs Index today. BBRC was previously benchmarked to the Indxx Beyond BRICs Index.
The FTSE Beyond BRICs Index generally has 75% exposure to companies in more developed emerging markets (excluding Brazil,Russia, India, China, South Korea and Taiwan) and 25% exposure to companies in frontier markets, which are less developed. While the index is free-float market capitalization-weighted, it addresses potential concentration issues by including diversification parameters such as position and country caps, as well by liquidity-ranking the frontier markets company exposure,” according to a statement issued by EGShares.
Earlier this month, BBRC pared its expense ratio to 0.58% per year, down from 0.85%. [Beyond BRIC ETF Lowers Fees]
The Beyond BRICs group includes the nations of Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Vietnam, according to EGShares.
Nigeria, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam, among others, are classified as frontier markets. At the end of September, BBRC’s top five country weights were South Africa (21.9%), Malaysia (16.1%), Mexico (15.8%), Indonesia (9.2%) and Thailand (6.6%). At the sector level, financials and telecom names combine for over 52% of the ETF’s weight.