“Asia will probably remain resilient against the rest of emerging markets from here as their economies and external balances are both relatively solid,” Koji Fukaya, chief executive officer of FPG Securities Co., told Bloomberg. “In a risk-on market, people don’t pay too much attention to the fundamentals, but when that starts to fade, people become more selective and Asia is providing relief for some.”
To gain exposure to these various markets, ETF investors can look to country-specific ETFs, such as the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF (NYSEArca: EWM), iShares MSCI Philippines ETF (NYSEArca: EPHE), iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (NYSEArca: EIDO) and VanEck Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEArca: IDX).
Investors can also take on broad exposure to these emerging Asian economies through region-themed ETFs. For instance, the SPDR S&P Emerging Asia Pacific ETF (NYSEArca: GMF) provides broad exposure to emerging economies in the Asian Pacific, including China 48.5%, Taiwan 20.1%, India 17.6%, Thailand 4.2%, Malaysia 3.5%, Indonesia 3.2% and Philippines 1.6%. The iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF (NYSEArca: AAXJ), which excludes Japanese and Australian stock exposure and tilts toward more emerging economies, including China 37.1%, Korea 16.8%, Taiwan 12.9%, Hong Kong 11.0%, India 9.3%, Singapore 4.0%, Malaysia 2.6%, Thailand 2.6%, Indonesia 2.2% and Philippines 1.1%.
For more information on Asian markets, visit our Asia category.