ETF Spotlight on Market Vectors Vietnam (NYSEArca: VNM), part of a weekly series.
Assets: $280 million
Objective: Tracks the Market Vectors Vietnam Index, which gives exposure to companies that are domiciled primarily in Vietnam and generate at least half their revenue from the country.
Holdings: VNM has 32 securities; some of the largest are Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemical; Vietnam Construction & Import Export; and Oil & Natural Gas Corp.
What You Should Know
- The majority of the fund – 70% – is allocated to Vietnamese corporations, but another 30% goes to offshore operations in places like Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and Thailand.
- Financials are the top sector in VNM and get 45% of the total weighting. Energy is also significant, with 23% of the weight. Industrials account for 13.4%.
- VNM is primarily a mid- and small-cap play; each style gets about 40% of the fund’s total weight, with the rest going to large- caps.
- VNM launched on Aug. 14, 2009; since then, it has gained 14.5%.
The Latest News
- VNM was one of the market’s top ETFs in January, gaining nearly 12%.
- ietnam will select its new Communist Party leaders this week, reports Nga Pham for BBC. While no sweeping changes are likely, the party could retrench itself, intensifying domestic problems and also impeding the country’s integration with the rest of the world.
- While the Vietnamese economy expanded around 6.5% in 2010, the economy still suffers from high inflation, a growing deficit, a depreciating currency and diminishing foreign exchange reserves, according to VOA News.
- Vietnam is bullish about its prospects this year. Its administration believes that the country has overcome most of its difficulties in recent years and fulfilled its socio-economic targets for 2010.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.