iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (EIS)
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EIS Forum Topics
- All Comments on EIS
- General Discussion on EIS
- ETF Industry Data Summary: 1H'08 [view article]
- International ETF Update: Single Country ETFs, Latin America, Poland, and China-Taiwan Relations [view article]
- Interview with Dave Fry, ETF Digest [view article]
- Fundamental Analysis for Emerging Markets [view article]
- Energy Use Per GDP Unit by Country [view article]
- Questioning MSCI's Israel Index [view article]
- Global Investment Clues from VC Firms [view article]
- Investing in Israel's Cutting Edge Technologies [view article]
- Calendar Year Country Fund Returns: 1997-2007+ [view article]
- International ETF Update: Israel, Japan, Portugal [view article]
- Single Country Middle East & Africa ETFs and Closed-End Funds [view article]
- 700 ETFs and Counting: A Bird's-eye View [view article]
loading ...Recent EIS Articles
- Israeli Companies and CPI-Linked Debt
- ETF Industry Data Summary: 1H'08
- International ETF Update: Israel, Thailand, China, and Latin America
- International ETF Update: Single Country ETFs, Latin America, Poland, and China-Taiwan Relations
- Interview with Dave Fry, ETF Digest
- Emerging & Developed Markets Country Weights
- Fundamental Analysis for Emerging Markets
- Energy Use Per GDP Unit by Country
- Update on Recent MSCI Israel Index Post
- Questioning MSCI's Israel Index
- Full List of Articles »
Single Country Middle East & Africa ETFs and Closed-End Funds [view article]
On another note, the author says, "Many Middle Eastern economies are dominated by oil. For exposure to the Middle East, it may therefore make sense to consider the oil ETFs."Interestingly, while the PowerShares DB OIl ETF (DBO) has gained ~11.5% over the last month, TRAMX has traded at ~$14/share, or ~ 0% gain. So, an investment in oil is just that, it does not acurately correlate with Middle Eastern equities markets as the author suggests. Reply
Single Country Middle East & Africa ETFs and Closed-End Funds [view article]
Currently there is very disappointing ETF representation of Middle East & African countries in the ETF product line-up. I wouldn't waste my time making these products fit your portfolio when a vastly superior mutual fund already exists: T. Rowe Price Africa & Middle East Fund (TRAMX).TRAMX Country Exposure:
U.A.E. (United Arab Emirates) 24.6%
Egypt 17.9%
Qatar 16.6%
Oman 12.9%
South Africa 10.8%
Jordan 4.5%
Bahrain 3.2%
Lebanon 2.7%
Nigeria 0.5%
I've been in this fund since early Oct. '07 and have been pleased to see my position go from $11 to $14.....a 27% gain through the current downturn. Check and compare charts and you'll see that even the on-fire iShares Brazil ETF (EWZ) has a 22% gain over the same period
This is a long-term prospect so I don't feel having the flexibility of an ETF was worth staying away from this investment. Until there exists a comparable line-up of Middle East ETFs, TRAMX is the way to go. Reply
Jackson
Single Country Emerging Markets ETFs, ETNs and Closed-End Funds [view article]
Update: We just added the new Northern Trust Israel ETF to the list, the NETS TA-25 Index Fund (TAV). Heather Bell writes about this ETF:"TAV, however, is not the first of its kind. The iShares complex already offers the competing iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE Arca: EIS), which charges 0.68%. In a departure for the NETS family, TAV is actually more expensive than its corresponding iShares ETF: It charges 0.70%. EIS was only launched in late March, so it hasn't had time to gain much of a foothold - Northern Trust may be looking to compete with it more on the basis of the underlying index than on price."
Her full article is here:
seekingalpha.com/artic... Reply
700 ETFs and Counting: A Bird's-eye View [view article]
Great, we work the optionable ETFs via Collars and Spreads as sub-advisor's on multiple platforms ...... contact us. Work the market, limit risk, drive cash flow.... Reply700 ETFs and Counting: A Bird's-eye View [view article]
As someone who began using iShare ETFs back in 1996 when they were known as WEBS, and was finally able to drop all open-end mutual funds and closed-end funds last year in order to build 100% ETF portfolios, I applaud your article for providing a good macro view of the landscape.After BGI rebranded WEBS to iShares with a focus on US stock ETFs in 2000, it wasn't very long ago that it seemed to take absolutely forever to get SHY, ICF and EFA through the approval process of the SEC in 2001. More government bonds appeared in 2002 followed by EEM, TIP and AGG in '03, GLD in '04, MicroCap and EAFE Growth and Value in '05, Commodities and Short/Leveraged ETFs in '06 and finally Currencies and the missing bond categories of High Yield, Muni and Internationals in '07.
As Actively Managed ETFs hit the market in '08, it is logical to believe that many more open-end mutual fund companies will stop feeling threatened and join the movement as Vanguard and Van Eck have already done. Lower expense ratios (look at the market share Vanguard is taking), real transparency (as opposed to quarterly window dressing), intra-day trading (no more bashing of market timing or additional fees for selling whenever you want) and better tax treatment which can be managed as opposed to the ridiculous IRS-forced capital gain distributions at year end.
Good article. Reply
700 ETFs and Counting: A Bird's-eye View [view article]
Nice overview of the space and the sectors. ReplyJackson
700 ETFs and Counting: A Bird's-eye View [view article]
I really enjoyed this article. ReplyJackson
Single Country Emerging Markets ETFs, ETNs and Closed-End Funds [view article]
Update: We just added in the new China ETF from Northern Trust. ReplyInternational ETF Update: Israel, Russia, Turkey [view article]
RNE is a closed-end fund, not an ETF, but yes, it should be mentioned along with Templeton Russia Fund (TRF), another closed-end fund. RNE and TRF are more Russia-based than CEE, the only closed-end fund mentioned in the article.CEE has a lot more than 27.7% in Russia. Its largest holding, Gazprom EDR, trades in the UK so it's not listed as Russia, but clearly it's Russia. Some other CEE unclassified holdings are Russia holdings. CEE is more like 50% Russia. Reply
International ETF Update: Israel, Russia, Turkey [view article]
RNE must be included in Russian based ETFs ReplyCountry Funds En Masse Could Be the Answer [view article]
I would like to see country funds that go short the index, too. ReplyCountry Funds En Masse Could Be the Answer [view article]
I regularly look at alternative ETFs to further diversify my portfolio. I often wonder whether country funds or regional funds offer better results when viewed from a practical sense. The 1 year daily correlation is over 80% between most country indices and their respective regional and/or type indices. Shorter term correlations can diverge significantly however, during brief spurts of country specific event driven volatility. These correlation characteristics imply that a short term rebalancing regime would be needed to capture relative price dislocations among similar country funds found within a broader index. Longer term, these price disparities should be arbitraged away thus providing little if any additional return. Thus, I believe country specific funds are only beneficial to portfolio methodologies that are short term oriented.As an aside, what should be the goal when constructing a diversified portfolio; should it be a weighted net correlation of 0% (based desired investment timeframe), or maybe + or – 10% or something completely different?
Reply
Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
"theidiotperspect... (your handle, not my opinion)You are right. Those are emerging market ETFs for India. I just listed one for each country generally, but those are options available to investors. Reply
spective
Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
India now have 3 ETF not in your list. EPI, PIN and i think another one almost out!Reply
Investing in Non-U.S. Stock Markets [view article]
Ed Morgan,I am aware of GAF and VTOPF and chose not to mention them for good reasons.
I will humor you with the refutation you request, with the understanding that I find your approach unnecessarily harsh. There is no reason to suggest that the author of an article lacks competency or subject matter knowledge, because some question you have was not answered by an article. You could have asked the question in helpful way without suggesting that you are informed and the author is uninformed. Seeking Alpha is not a contest, it is a community sharing ideas, not insults.
To your comment/question:
VTOPF (Vietnam Opportunity Fund) is not available on an exchange in the US. That was one of the criteria I mentioned in the article. It is a Pink Sheets company, and I never recommend or comment on Pink Sheets stocks. I never will recommend a Pink Sheets stock. They are OK for those who want to play in that arena. I do not.
The fund is available in London in a more liquid form, but that is not reasonably available to US retail investors. The management fee is 2% + 20% of return over 8% per year.
You can read more about the Vietnam Opportunity Fund at:
www.vinacapital.com/
Vietnam is an exciting opportunity, but for general publication purposes, VTOPF is outside of the bounds I would chose for general consumption articles such as this one, because it is a Pink Sheets fund.
TRAMX is not on an exchange either, but mutual funds have liquidity. It is a frontier markets fund, although regionally limited.
GAF is not a frontier market fund as you suggest. It is an emerging markets fund, as SSGA says in the product description. Frontier markets and emerging markets are not the same thing. It is 56% South Africa and 22% Israel (78% total). Both are emerging, not frontier market countries. The balance of 22% that is in frontier markets, is far too little to commend the fund as an frontier markets play.
If you want South Africa exposure you can buy EZA. If you want Israel exposure, you can buy ISL. To learn more about GAF, you can read the fund information and fact sheet at:
www.ssgafunds.com/etf/...
I repeat my assertion that TRAMX is the only good current frontier markets option, not on Pink Sheet or minimally exposed frontier markets within some other category of countries.
So their is the refutation of your criticism. I hope you find that satisfactory for the inadequacies you find in the article. Next time, try a little sugar to get more information before using vinegar.
Richard Reply