However, due to its large allocations to defensive consumer staples and telecom names, EWW carries with a P/E ratio that is well in excess of EEM’s. Investors have pulled $19 million from EWW this year despite optimism regarding the country’s reform-minded government and efforts to open the country’s energy industry to foreign investment for the first time in decades.
Although EWW does not feature a large energy sector weight, the ETF’s vulnerability to low oil prices is unmistakeable because among non-OPEC producers, only Russia depends on oil for a greater percentage of government revenue than does Mexico. Not surprisingly, EWW has lost nearly 13% over the past three months while the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) is off 39.6% over the same period.
iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF
Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of EEM and ILF.