Tag Archives: Market Vectors Israel ETF

ETF News

MarketsMuse Eye on Israel ETFs $EIS, $ISRA: Not Just Chopped Liver

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MarketsMuse.com ETF update is courtesy of extract from 15 April Zacks.com article published at SeekingAlpha.com

Despite endless economic and financial woes, as well as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, Israeli stocks have been on the rise and are clearly outperforming its neighboring countries and the broad world market.

This is particularly true given that the iShares MSCI Israel Capped ETF (NYSEARCA:EIS) and the Market Vectors Israel ETF (NYSEARCA:ISRA) have gained in double digits so far this year. This is compared to the gains of 3.9% for WisdomTree Middle East Dividend ETF (NASDAQ:GULF), 6.3% for the SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa ETF (NYSEARCA:GAF), 5.2% for the iShares MSCI ACWI Index ETF (NASDAQ:ACWI) and 2.6% for the SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY).

The strong gains came from the easing policies adopted by the Bank of Israel (BOI) to guard against the recent appreciation of the shekel and pull the country out of deflation. The BOI surprisingly reduced its interest rate by 15 bps to a record low of 0.10% in February that will likely boost economic growth and the inflation rate to 1-3% within a year, while maintaining financial stability. The bank could introduce further measures, matching Europe to stimulate growth in the economy, if required.

Israel remains one of the stable countries in the Middle East amid endless territorial disputes and security concerns. The country’s economy has proven to be quite resilient and strong compared to those of its neighboring nations. Israel is the dominant leader in technological innovation, which is pulling solid capital into the country. Continue reading →

ETF News

A Kosher ETF Courtesy of Market Vectors

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benzinga-logoCourtesy of Benzinga.com ETF Professor/SeekingAlpha

Van Eck’s Market Vectors unit, the fifth-largest U.S. ETF issuer by assets under management, has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to possibly introduce the Market Vectors Israel ETF.

The prospectus filed with the SEC includes ticker and expense ratio information, indicating Market Vectors could be close to bringing the fund to market. The Market Vectors Israel ETF will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ISRA” and have an annual expense ratio of 0.59 percent, according to the filing.

ISRA will compete directly with the iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (EIS), which recently turned five years old.

ISRA will track the BlueStar Israel Global Index, which is a rules based, modified capitalization, free-float adjusted weighted index intended to give investors a means of tracking the overall performance of publicly traded companies that are generally considered to be Israeli companies, according to the filing.

There will be at least one major difference between the new Market Vectors Israel ETF and EIS: Weightings. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) accounts for 22.2 percent of the total weight in EIS, but no stock accounts for more than 12.5 percent of ISRA’s index.

For the full story at SeekingAlpha, please click here