Beyond the BRICs: Other Emerging Market ETFs to Consider

The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have gotten the majority of investor attention, but there are other worthy emerging market ETFs that lie outside their boundaries.

Many countries that fall under the emerging and or frontier market categories get overlooked, overshadowed by the BRIC wall. Some analysts say if you’re not looking at some other markets, you could be leaving a wide-open hole in your portfolio.

How much should be allocated to your portfolio, though, is a matter of debate.

Alexandria Zendrian for Forbes explains that a 50% emerging markets weight is not recommended, but at least 30% should be international. The average portfolio has about a 2% allocation to emerging markets, which is underweight considering that two-thirds of the global market cap lies outside the United States.

There are many other economies besides China, Brazil, Russia and India that are emerging, and they have made it through the financial crisis better than most. Eastern Europe is an area that has made it through the banking crisis well, and has overcome a currency problem as well.

In fact, eight of the top 10 markets that have performed well over the past quarter are from Eastern Europe. Those top 10 markets are: Lithuania (up 46%), Serbia (39%), Ukraine (39%), Macedonia (38%), Estonia (37%), Russia (35%), Kazakhstan (34.8%), Vietnam (26%), Cyprus (26%) and Argentina (25%).

Other emerging markets investors can consider include:

• iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund (NYSEArca: ESR): up 44% since inception

• Market Vectors Vietnam (NYSEArca:VNM): up 5.7% since inception

• Global X/InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 (NYSEArca: GXG): up 90.8% since inception

• Emerging Global Shares DJ Emerging Markets Energy Titans (NYSEArca: EEO): up 12.8% in the last three months