ETF Talk: A Passage to India

India’s expanding manufacturing activity of late is an encouraging sign for investors who previously may have avoided that emerging market due to the country’s slow economic growth and relatively high inflation. In fact, the country’s manufacturing activity expanded at a faster rate than China’s in June. With manufacturing on the rise, India offers a renewed chance for investors to make money and one way to do so is through an exchange-traded fund (ETF) called the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index (INDY).

This non-diversified fund invests at least 80% of its assets in securities that comprise the underlying index, which measures the equity performance of India’s top 50 public companies by market capitalization.

INDY certainly has been a volatile trade this year, down more than 15% year to date. However, the stock climbed 23.2% last year. This ETF also has a dividend yield of 0.45% for investors interested in a bit of income. And India’s economy appears to be on the mend, based on its government’s latest data.

INDY’s largest sector holding is financial services, composing 29.6%; with 12.72% in consumer defensive; 12.45% in technology; and 12.14% in energy. And, 58.34% of the fund’s assets are invested in its top ten holdings. The fund’s top five corporate holdings are I T C LTD, 9.44%; Reliance Industries Ltd., 7.53%; HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CO, 7.27%; ICICI Bank Ltd., 6.62%; and HDFC Bank Ltd., 6.59%.

According to The Economic Times, India probably has the third-largest economy, fueled by a rising middle class, growing consumer spending and a relatively young population with a median age of 27 compared to 36 in China and 37 in the United States. INDY has the potential to surge as the year unfolds.

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