The U.S. is not the only large equity market that has been racing to record highs. Indian stocks have accomplishing the same feat, taking some U.S. investors along for the ride.
Only stocks in the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have outperformed Indian shares this year among emerging markets, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream. Of the top 11 U.S.-listed non-leveraged exchange traded funds to this point in 2014, seven are India ETFs.
While stocks in Egypt have slightly outpaced their Indian counterparts this year, the 24.5% year-to-date gain for the Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (NYSEArca: EGPT) is not enough to qualify the fund for admittance to the top 10 foreign ETFs this year. Led by the iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF (BATS: SMIN), that list is comprised entirely of India ETFs. [Behind the Dominance of India ETFs]
The rise of India ETFs has not been lost on U.S. investors. The 10 India ETFs tracked by Morningstar have a combined $6.3 billion in assets under management, up 47% since January, reports Ashley Lau for Reuters.
However, the estimate that U.S.-listed India ETFs have attracted a combined $2 billion in new assets this year is wrong. Combined, the iShares MSCI India ET (NYSEArca: INDA) and the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSEArca: EPI), the largest India ETF, have added over $2.1 billion in new assets.
The Market Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) has added nearly $98 million of its $280.4 million in assets under management while the $93.3 million added by the PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN) makes that ETF the top asset gatherer this year among equity-based emerging markets ETFs issued by PowerShares.