Investors interested in Asia Pacific exposure may consider a broad region-related ETF, such as the Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF (NYSEArca: VPL), Global X FTSE ASEAN 40 ETF (NYSEArca: ASEA), SPDR S&P Emerging Asia Pacific ETF (NYSEArca: GMF) and iShares Core MSCI Pacific ETF (NYSEArca: IPAC).
VPL tries to reflect the performance of the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific All Cap Index, which covers developed Asia Pacific economies, including Japan 58.9%, Australia 16.1%, Korea 12.7%, Hong Kong 8.5%, Singapore 3.1% and New Zealand 0.7%.
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IPAC includes a similar developed Asia Pacific weight, tracking the MSCI Pacific Investable Market Index, with a 67.6% position in Japan, 18.1% in Australia, 8.9% in Hong Kong and 3.6% in Singapore. However, since MSCI considers South Korea an emerging market, IPAC does not include Korea exposure.
ASEA leans toward southeast Asian economies, including Singapore 30.1%, Malaysia 22.1%, Indonesia 19.2%, Thailand 22.2% and Philippines 6.5%.
GMF focuses on emerging Asia Pacific countries, including China 47.9%, Taiwan 20.4%, India 17.8%, Malaysia 3.5%, Thailand 4.1%, Indonesia 3.5% and Philippines 1.8%.
For more information on Asian markets, visit our Asia category.