Some argue that as the developed world advances, the countries could help pull up the developing world. Additionally, market players have a more uneven outlook across the emerging markets, cherry picking areas of potential strength. [ETF Investors Should Pick Their BRIC Exposure]
For example, investors can capture Chinese growth through the Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR), which tracks mainland Chinese A-shares, while the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI) and SPDR S&P China ETF (NYSEArca: GXC) track Chinese company shares that trade outside of China. The WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSEArca: EPI), iShares India 50 ETF (NasdaqGM: INDY) and PowerShares India Portfolio (NYSEArca: PIN) provide exposure to India’s markets. Lastly, the iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (NYSEArca: EIDO) and Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEArca: IDX) both track Indonesia.
However, the China, India and Indonesia country-specific ETFs do not hedge currency risk, so a strong U.S. dollar or weaker foreign currencies could slightly depress overall returns.
Moreover, money managers point out that overseas valuations look more attractive than the U.S. especially as U.S. equities trade at record highs. Ablin calculates that the S&P 500 is more than 20% above its median price-to-sales ratio going back to 1998, whereas advanced foreign markets, like Europe and Japan, are only 2.2% above their historical medians. Meanwhile, developing-country stocks are 7% below their median. [Japan ETFs: Rising Suns, Attractive Valuations]
For more information on the international markets, visit our global ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.