Zacks.com Director of ETF Research Neena Mishra highlights: Time for South Africa ETFs?

CHICAGO, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Stocks and funds in this article include MSCI South Africa Index Fund (EZA) and WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand Fund (SZR)

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Neena Mishraexplains why the upside for South Africa ETFs may be limited in the near-term but may continue to be rewarding in the long-run.

Time for South Africa ETFs?  written by Neena Mishra, CFA of Zacks Investment Research:  

South Africa is the largest economy in Africa. Last year, the country joined the group of fast growing economies of BRIC, adding the "S" to the acronym to make it BRICS. It is one of only four African countries that have been classified as upper-middle income countries by the World Bank.

South African economy has done well since its transition from Apartheid in 1994. The economy has grown at an average rate of 3.3% while the inflation has remained modest within 3% to 6% range. The country has a well developed financial system and modern infrastructure. (Read: Time to Buy the Singapore ETFs)

South Africa has been endowed with vast natural resources. The country is largest supplier of platinum (~67% of total supply) in the world and also one of the top producers of gold, diamonds and other precious metals like palladium.

Among the negatives, the country is among the worst in the world in terms of income inequality, which is further exacerbated by low employment growth in the country. Savings and investment rates also remain low. Further, the growth is currently constrained by the recession in the Eurozone and slowdown in China.

The upside for South Africa ETFs may be limited in the near-term. For investors looking to benefit from growth in the emerging markets, better opportunities exist in some Latin American countries like Colombia and Peru.

However Africa is too important a region to be ignored by the investors. Given its vast natural resources and low correlations with most other markets, investments in Africa may continue to be rewarding in the long-run. For investors seeking exposure to Africa, we think South Africa is a better option compared with some frontier market countries, which have high political instability and growth potential comes at the cost of significant risks and high volatility. Below we take a look at the two ETFs (equity and currency) that provide exposure to South Africa.

See more on ETFs at the Zacks ETF Center).

MSCI South Africa Index Fund (EZA)

EZA seeks to track the MSCI South Africa Index, which is a capitalization weighted, float-adjusted index of publicly traded securities in the South African equity market. The index aims to capture 85% of total market capitalization.

The fund currently has $524.3 million in AUM and holds 50 stocks. The fund assigns heaviest weight to the financials securities (27%), followed by materials (20%) and consumer discretionary (16%) stocks. The fund has returned 17.96% to the investors since its inception in February 2003.

EZA charges 59 basis points annually to the investors and has returned 10.73% year-to-date. MTN Group, the African telecom giant is the largest holding (10.6%).

WisdomTree Dreyfus South African Rand Fund (SZR)

SZR seeks to achieve the returns that reflect the money market rates in South Africa and changes in the value of South African Rand (ZAR). The ETF invests in high quality US money market securities and enters into forward contracts or swaps to gain exposure to South African money market instruments. The fund was launched in June 2008 and has returned 7.69% in since inception. 

Current AUM is $4.9 million, expense ratio is 0.45% and it has returned 5.64% year-to-date.

For the rest of this ETF article, please visit Zacks.com at: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/74684/time-for-south-africa-etfs

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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Contact: Neena Mishra
Company: Zacks.com
Phone: 312-265-9289
Email: [email protected]
Visit: www.Zacks.com

SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.