EWY is up 29% year-to-date, making it one of this year’s best-performing single-country emerging markets ETFs. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, is the second-largest country weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index behind China.
“North Korea has conducted more than a dozen missile tests this year, including several inter-continental ballistic missiles, leading to a war of words in August between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim’s regime that has rattled global markets,” according to Bloomberg.
The $3.8 billion EWY, which is over 17 years old, allocates almost 41% of its weight to technology stocks. Alone, Samsung Electronics accounts for almost 24% of the ETF’s lineup. Financial services and consumer discretionary stocks combine for nearly 26% of the fund’s weight. Since the start of the third quarter, investors have added $24.2 million in new assets to EWY.
For more information on the South Korean markets, visit our South Korea category.