“Israel is uniquely positioned to offer investors emerging market growth characteristics with a developed market approach to economic management,” said Amrita Bagaria, ETF product manager with Market Vectors. “The country has a vibrant economy with broad sector representation.”
“In designing the Index, we wanted to set a high bar for inclusion,” said Steven Schoenfeld of BlueStar Global Investors, the index provider. “It was important that each constituent have a deep involvement in Israel’s growth.”
One notable difference between the Israel ETFs is their allocations to top holding Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NYSE: TEVA).
EIS has 23.5% in the stock, compared with less than 13% for the BlueStar Israel Global Index, the benchmark for ISRA.
According to the BlueStar Israel Global Index’s methodology, no single component stock represents more than 12.5% of the weight of the index. The cumulative weight of all components with an individual weight of 5% or greater do not in the aggregate account for more than 50% of the weight of the index.