ETF Investors Bolting from China for RIC Markets

ETF Investors Bolting from China for RIC Markets (Bloomberg)

Since March 20, 2014, some $42 million has fled Chinese-focused exchange-traded funds and flowed into other markets. That’s despite the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong, rising 9.7 percent in that same time frame. According to Robbert Van Batenburg, market strategy director at Newedge Group SA in New York, “Foreign investors are still skittish about what’s going on there in China… There’s uncertainty about bond defaults. That causes people to keep their powder dry.” And those that prefer to keep their powder moist are turning toward emerging markets, the RIC markets, specifically. Investments in Brazil, India and even Russia have risen a combined $422 million in that time.