An ETF that has seen a surge in trading volume this week is GREK (Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF, Expense Ratio 0.69%), and it has pulled in a notable $40 million in new assets year to date (total asset base is currently about $167 million).
The fund itself is trading near all-time highs once more on a strong gap up earlier on the week on volume that nearly quadrupled its typical daily average. GREK remains the go to alternative in the ETF space for Greece equity exposure, and this fund debuted amid much turmoil in the country back in late 2011.
Tracking the FTSE/Athex 20 Index, the fund owns twenty six individually listed Greek companies, with the top two holdings making up about 28% of the underlying portfolio. Coca-Cola HBC AG (15.22% weighting) and Hellenic Telecommunication Organization SA (12.90% weighting) fill these first two slots in the portfolio, followed by Opap SA (9.78%), National Bank of Greece ADR (6.05%), and Piraeus Bank SA (5.44%).
The fund has roundly balanced exposure to Large (29%), Mid (45%), and Small Cap (25%) stocks and remains the only Greek equity focused pure-play type ETF in the marketplace currently.
For those attracted to long equity exposure to Greece, a couple other non-Greece specific funds stand out with some allocation to the country, namely SEA (Guggenheim Shipping ETF, Expense Ratio 0.65%) with a 13.67% weighting and YMLP (Yorkville High Income MLP, Expense Ratio 0.82%) with a 8.32% weighting.
Interestingly, we recently published a short note on neighboring Turkey, specifically regarding the ETF TUR (iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index, Expense Ratio 0.60%) and recent put buying in the name on weakness there. If one quickly examines these two on a trailing one year chart, one will note a huge divergence in the returns of both products beginning in about August of 2013, almost mirror images of each other, resulting
in mass outperformance in Greece relative to Turkey to date during this time frame.
Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF
For more information on Street One ETF research and ETF trade execution/liquidity services, contact Paul Weisbruch at pweisbruch@streetonefinancial.com.
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