The $354 million WisdomTree Asia Local Debt Fund (NYSEArca: ALD) has a 6.31% weight to the Philippines, putting the country on par with New Zealand and Taiwan in the ETF. ALD is up 3.5% over the past three months.
Bolstering the case for Philippine debt and perhaps more upgrades from other ratings agencies is the country’s strong current account surplus, a debt/GDP ratio of around 40% and $79.6 billion in forex reserves.
Foreign investors have been net buyers of Manila-listed shares nearly everyday for a month. Year-to-date, investors have allocated $52.6 million to EPHE, or 14.6% of the ETF’s current assets under management total.
Investors are paying up for EPHE and Philippine equities. Stocks listed in Manila have a P/E ratio north of 20, double that of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. With a P/E of about 24.3, EPHE is noticeably pricier than its Indonesia and Malaysia counterparts.
iShares MSCI Philippines ETF
