Investors can access some of the fastest growth-oriented industries in the quickly expanding emerging markets through a targeted internet and e-commerce exchange traded fund.
The Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF (NYSEArca: EMQQ) tries to reflect the performance of EMQQ The Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce Index.
EMQQ has outperformed the broader emerging markets so far this year. Year-to-date, the fund has jumped 14.7%, whereas the broader iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM), which tracks the widely monitored MSCI Emerging Markets Index, has gained 9.1%. The emerging markets are also beating out U.S. markets, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) only up 1.9% this year.
Kevin Carter, founder of EMQQ The Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce Index, argues that the strategy helps investors capitalize on growth in consumption across the developing markets, or what McKinsey & Co. calls “the biggest growth opportunity in the history of capitalism,” reports Trang Ho for Forbes.
With billions of people moving up toward the middle-class, the rising wealth among emerging economies will add to greater consumption. Additionally, with the widespread use of mobile broadband devices in a digital age, shifting consumption patterns reveal growth in e-commerce.
For instance, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NasdaqGS: BABA) is EMQQ’s top holding at 8.0% of the ETF’s portfolio.
Carter also pointed out that EMQQ fills a void in broad emerging market investments that backs traditional benchmark indices. While many of these emerging internet companies may be listed on large U.S. benchmarks, major global indices and ETF providers have not included these companies on their own emerging market benchmarks.