The Best And Worst BRIC Country ETFs

Overall, the emerging markets have lagged the U.S. market greatly in 2014, down on the year versus a double-digit gain for the S&P 500.

The Guggenheim BRIC ETF (NYSE: EEB) has lost 3.6 percent this year and has not been able to rebound after the global market sell-off in September.

Best-Performing ETFs

When delving into the emerging market asset class, there is a major divergence between the winners and the losers. Since the end of June, the best performers has been the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index Fund (NYSE: INDY) with a gain of 8 percent.

The election results that sent the country’s stocks soaring earlier this year continue to be the catalyst for higher stock prices. The pro-business government should be able to allow the populous country to prosper.

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Another BRIC country, China, has also been a leader during the second half of the year. The iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) (NYSE: FXI) is up 6 percent and hit a multi-year low in mid-September before the selling began.

The soft landing concerns remain for the country; however, the growth is still robust and the valuations have come to levels that make the country attractive.

Worst-Performing ETFs

On the other end of the spectrum is the disaster that is Russia. The Market Vectors Russia ETF Trust (NYSE: RSX) is down 20 percent since the end of June and is trading near a multi-year low. The issues began with the Ukraine situation and have been exasperated with the sanctions against the country in conjunction with falling energy prices and a tumbling currency.

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Finally there is the iShares MSCI Brazil Index (ETF) (NYSE: EWZ), which is down 16 percent during the second half of the year after a disappointing election result that saw the incumbent re-elected.

The long-term trend for EWZ has been ugly as the downtrend has been intact for the most part since 2008. Declining commodity prices, a president that is not business savvy and slowing growth in China all lead to future issues for the country.