A 9.2% 90-day decline for FM is nothing to brag about, but the ETF’s decline would likely be a tad worse if not for the United Arab Emirates being promoted to emerging markets status earlier this year. Once one of FM’s largest country weights, OPEC member UAE derives two-thirds of government revenue from oil. The iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: UAE) is off 7.2% over the past 90 days.
Surprisingly, the iShares MSCI Qatar Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: QAT) is up 1.2% over that period. Qatar, which joined UAE in making the leap to the emerging markets classification, counts on oil for over half of government revenue, according to Quartz.
The Market Vectors Gulf States Index ETF (NYSEArca: MES) is lower by 5.2% over the past three months. UAE, Qatar and Kuwait combine for nearly 83% of MES’ weight, though that ETF’s energy sector exposure is slight at 5.1%.
MES also has some Saudi Arabia exposure, which is notable in the current environment, because only Iraq depends more heavily on oil for government revenue than Saudi Arabia. MES has long provided Saudi exposure because the Market Vectors GDP GCC Index (MVMESTR), the ETF’s underlying index, allows for the inclusion of companies that derive over 50% of their sales from a target country. Still, MES’ Saudi exposure is small at less than 5% of the fund’s weight. [Saudi Arabia Could Affect Some ETFs]
