Fool.com called Indonesia, Bulgaria and Vietnam "fronteir markets" - how can we get involved?
Best Answer
312 points
MoresbyChief answered one year ago …
Vietnam - Vietnam Opportunity Fund is listed on the UK AIM exchange (the same fund management company has also listed a VN Property and an Infrastructure fund). Vietnamm Opp is trading at a large premium to NAV at the moment, and appears to be lagging the recent plunge in VN stock valuations (down about 65% now) so I am wary of this one for the timebeing.
For broader exposure try the Advanced Frontier Markets Fund, also listed in the UK. Is up about 10% since listing back in June 2007, which is an encouragingly sensible gain, no signs of investment mania yet in this sector. It does have a performance fee years over 12% gain, but with a high watermark. So although it's expensive, at the moment it seems to be the only way to get diversified exposure to these markets.
Would be very interested to hear of others...
Answers
312 points
MoresbyChief answered one year ago …
Forgot to mention, there is also a Deutsche Bank Vietnam ETF on the LSE. Only 0.8% fee which is amazing considering the difficulty to access the market.
And, closer to home for me, the PNG stock exchange is doing very well, mostly due to high metals & soft commodity prices which is causing a real boom here. Kina Funds Management is listing a managed fund (60% PNG stocks, 40% Australian/other) in July, which will be open to foreign investors.
2769 points
Oldman answered one year ago …
Fidelity Funds offered a "frontier" market fund EMEA on May 15,2008. Price ca.$10.00/share. TRowePrice has a slightly older one, I believe it's Africa, MiddleEast.... Moresby Chief's selections are great...IF you can get them via your brokerage/trading center.
The question you need to ask, is will those funds report their activity to you in a way that satisfies the IRS here, because a lot of "foreign" funds...and many excellent types, do not file with the U.S. SEC or IRS, and - while you, as a U.S. taxpayer, are not "forbidden" to invest that way, the forms and info you need to report earings, dividends, and balances to the IRS are quite complicated.
3943 points
MNSL answered one year ago …
I think foreign investors can invest directly in stocks in some of the following Asian frontier markets now.
For frontier markets funds Pl see following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_markets
http://www.easier.com/view/Finance/Investments/Funds/article-175029.html
The Fidelity emerging Asia fund: gateway to frontier markets
UK investors have the opportunity to enter Asian emerging and frontier markets through The Fidelity Funds Emerging Asia Fund.
They will invest majority of the portfolio in following countries:
China
India
Asian Frontier markets:
Sri-Lanka
Pakistan
Vietnam
Bangladesh
ASEAN Countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia (ex Singapore)
MSCI Frontier Markets Indices
As Asian Frontier markets Vietnam and Sri-Lanka have included in this index.
http://www.structuredproductsonline.com/public/showPage.html?page=701984
Deutsche Bank lists first ETFs tracking frontier markets
2769 points
Oldman answered one year ago …
P.S., the symbols for Fido's fund is "FEMEX" and for TROWE-Price' = "TRAMX", but I think MNSL's answer is really a good place to start.
Be wary of single country ETF's, because often, the holdings are cap-weighted by securities that trade as ADR's here, and are more reflective of the country's economy, than of all its stocks. (Sort of like buying an ETF of the S&P top 100, vs, an ETF of a NYSE composite)
