We have seen bearish looking flows recently in the largest China ETF, iShares FTSE China 25 (NYSEArca: FXI), despite positive asset inflows in a related fund, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSEArca: EEM), where China as a country is the largest weighting (17.60%).
This said, the third largest country weighting in the MSCI EM Index is Brazil, with a 11.25% weighting and the largest fund devoted to Brazil’s equity market, iShares MSCI Brazil (NYSEArca: EWZ), has attracted more than $600 million in the past week in terms of net inflows.
EWZ dwarfs the next largest ETF in terms of assets that is centered around Brazil, as BRF (Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap) is next in line with approximately $530 million in assets under management.
The Brazil is approaching its 200 day moving average, and the fund itself tends to have a large cap slant with top holdings including Petrobras, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A., and Vale S.A.
EWZ has been a relative laggard in the EM space YTD as has China, with EEM rallying 9.93% year to date versus EWZ’s loss of 2.14%.
Other funds that concentrate in Brazilian equities include BRXX (EGShares INDXX Brazil Infrastructure), EWZS (iShares MSCI Brazil Small Cap), BRAQ (Global X Brazil Consumer), BRAZ (Global X Brazil Mid Cap), FBZ (First Trust Brazil AlphaDEX), and BRAF (Global X Brazil Financials).
Depending on the investor’s exact goals when looking for exposure to Brazil, there are more ETF tools than ever available for investment, including levered funds on the long and short side, UBR (ProShares Ultra MSCI Brazil) as well as BZQ (ProShares UltraShort MSCI Brazil).
iShares MSCI Brazil
For more information on Street One ETF research and ETF trade execution/liquidity services, contact Paul Weisbruch at pweisbruch@streetonefinancial.com.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own EEM.