Asia

Asia is home to the world's fastest growing economies. Investors can get exposure to Asia's growth by investing in ETFs tracking Asian markets. There are a variety of ETFs for tracking Asia, from country-specific funds to pan-Asian funds to specialized sub-sector funds.

Asian economies are traditionally thought of as dependent on Western consumption for growth. This is changing. The world-wide economic crisis did not stop growth in Asia. Government stimulus helped Asian countries through the worst initially. Asian domestic private consumption is now growing enough to offset withdrawal of government stimulus. It may soon grow enough to offset slackening demand from the West.

Some popular Asia ETFs are the iShares MSCI FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (NYSEArca:FXI), the iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWH), and the iShares MSCI Malaysia Index (NYSEArca:EWM). All three of these ETFs have been outperforming the U.S. domestic benchmark Standard and Poor Depositary Receipts (NYSEArca:SPY).

Recently, the ASEAN economies have been the best place in Asia for investors. Their resilience coming out of the recession has been a surprise.

A list of key Asian ETFs appears below:

Multiple country ETFs:

• Vanguard Pacific Stock ETF (NYSEArca:VPL)
• iShares MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Index Fund (NYSEArca:EPP)
• iShares S&P Asia 50 Index (NYSEArca:AIA)
• SPDR S&P Emerging Asia Pacific ETF (NYSEArca:GMF)
• First Trust ISE Chindia Index Fund (NYSEArca:FNI)
• FTSE RAFI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Portfolio ETF (NYSEArca:PAF)

Single Country ETFs:

• iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (NYSEArca:FXI)
• Powershares Golden Dragon Halter USX China Portfolio ETF (NYSEArca:PGJ)
• Market Vectors China ETF (NYSEArca:PEK)
• Claymore AlphaShares China Small Cap (NYSEArca:HAO)
• SPDR S&P China ETF (NYSEArca:GXC)
• iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund (PCX:EWH)
• iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWJ)
• iShares MSCI Malaysia Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWM)
• iShares MSCI Singapore Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWS)
• iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWY)
• iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund (NYSEArca:EWT)
• iShares MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index Fund (NYSEArca:TUR)
• iShares S&P/TOPIX 150 Index Fund (NYSEArca:ITF)
• MSCI India Index ETN (NYSEArca:INP)
• India Earnings Fund (NYSEArca:EPI)
• India Portfolio ETF (NYSEArca:PIN)
• iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (NYSEArca:THD)
• Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (NYSEArca:VNM)
• Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEArca:IDX)
• iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index (NYSEArca:EIDO)

Short / Leverage ETFs:

• ProShares UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 ETF (NYSEArca:FXP)
• ProShares UltraShort MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEArca:EWV)

Sector Specialized / Dividend ETFs:

• Claymore/AlphaShares China Real Estate ETF (NYSEArca:TAO)
• iShares MSCI Japan Small Cap Index Fund (NYSEArca:SCJ)
• Claymore/AlphaShares China Small Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca:HAO)
• SPDR Russell/Nomura PRIME Japan ETF (NYSEArca:JPP)
• SPDR Russell/Nomura Small Cap Japan ETF (NYSEArca:JSC)
• WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSEArca:DFJ)
• WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Fund (NYSEArca:DXJ)