By now, it is not a stretch to say most emerging markets investors know that exchange traded funds holding Indian equities are among this year’s top U.S.-listed performers.
In the run-up to and following Narendra Modi’s win in the recent national elections, an array of India ETFs rank among this year’s finest. For example, the Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) is up 39.1% this year, a performance bested by only two non-leveraged ETFs. The WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSEArca: EPI) is by far the best performer among the four-major single-country BRIC ETFs. [India ETFs Aren’t Done Yet]
So strong has EPI been that its 28.3% year-to-date gain is more than double that of the second-best major single-country BRIC ETF, the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWZ).
Even with the fanfare surrounding U.S.-listed India ETFs, ETFs traded in India are nowhere close to matching the size of their internationally-listed counterparts. ETFs listed outside of India have assets under management (AUM) in excess of Rs 55,000 crore, but “Indian ETFs, which do the same thing but are based out of India and cater to Indian investors, had a combined AUM of Rs 4,216 crore at the end of July,” reports the Business Standard.
To put that into context, 100 Indian rupee buy just under $1.64 and EPI, the largest India ETF trading the U.S. has nearly $1.9 billion in AUM. [Ten WisdomTree ETFs Top $1B in AUM]
Year-to-date, EPI has added over $598 million in assets while nearly half of SCIF’s $331.1 million in AUM have come into the fund just this year. The PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN) has added $94.3 million, or 17% of its total, this year. PIN has surged 29%. [India ETFs Keep Hauling in Cash]
In what may come as a surprise to some U.S. investors, their Indian counterparts have preferred high-priced actively managed mutual funds. Morningstar India told the Business Standard that fees on actively managed mutual funds in India can range from 1.5% to 2%, or 80 basis points in excess of many ETFs there.
Only recently have Indian investors begun to examine the advantages of lower-fee ETFs, a lesson learned by many investors in the U.S. and that could spell opportunity for ETF issuers in India going forward.
According to the Investment Company Institute, actively managed equity funds charge an average 0.89% expense ratio as of 2013. In comparison, traditional beta-index ETFs have an average 0.58% expense ratio, with some charging as little as 0.04%, according to XTF data.
WisdomTree India Earnings Fund
