China is helping diversified emerging markets ETFs like VWO and EEM…sort of. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (NYSEArca: FXI), home to many of the Chinese stocks found in VWO and EEM, is up 4.3% this year, but that is far cry from the performances delivered by A-shares ETFs. A-shares, the Chinese stocks that trade on mainland exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, are flying again this year.
The Deutsche X-trackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSEArca: ASHR), the largest U.S.-listed A-shares ETF, is up nearly 9% this year while the Market Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF (NYSEArca: CNXT) is 2015’s top-performing non-leveraged ETF with a gain 42%. [Meet 2015’s Best ETF]
ASHR and CNXT were two of the five A-shares ETFs to make all-time highs last Friday. FXI would need to climb 45% to reclaim its all-time high.
Nomura adds that emerging markets growth expectations are so low that the potential for upside surprises exists and that hard currency levels around the emerging world “are generally manageable.”
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF
