At last count we tallied 27 exchange traded fund products that are now listed on the market that are focused on the Chinese equity and fixed income markets. To say that this segment of the ETF market has experienced “growth” is a gross understatement, as many in the industry will recall when iShares FTSE China 25 (NYSEArca: FXI) was the only game in town, so to speak back in 2004 when it first began trading.
FXI remains the giant in the space, garnering a lofty $6.5 billion in assets over the years, and it trades over 21 million shares per day typically. While FXI offers large cap exposure to the Chinese equity market and is generally heavily tilted towards Financials (52.90% of the index), a number of more specialized, targeted China based funds have emerged over the years.
Most will not be surprised to see that Direxion Daily China Bull 3X (NYSEArca: YINN) is the best performer in the China space year to date, up 46.35%, although the ETF is designed as a trading vehicle rather than along-term investment.
Developing markets turned in a stellar performance in the month of January, and we have seen impressive flows in emerging market ETFs. [Weekly ETF Recap]
Other top performers in the early going in 2012 include Guggenheim China Technology (NYSEArca: CQQQ) which is up 16.30%, Global X China Financials (NYSEArca: CHIX), Global X China Industrials (NYSEArca: CHII), Guggenheim China Real Estate (NYSEArca: TAO), Guggenheim China All Cap Fund (NYSEArca: YAO), iShares FTSE China Index (NYSEArca: FCHI) and PowerShares Golden Dragon Halter USX Chnia (NYSEArca: PGJ), to name a few.