Argentina ETF in Focus as Pope Francis Takes Office
ETF Spotlight on the Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF (ARGT) , part of an ongoing series. The global spotlight is on Argentina after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was named Pope Francis leader of the Catholic world.
Assets : $4 million.
Objective : The Global X FTSE Argentina 20 fund tries to reflect the performance of the FTSE Argentina 20 Index, which is comprised of the twenty largest companies in the Argentine market.
Holdings : Top holdings include Mercadolibre Inc 20.2%, Tenaris SA 19.8%, Arcos Dorados Holdings 11.4%, Telecom Argetina 5.6% and YPF Sociedad Anonima 5.1%.
What You Should Know :
Global X sponsors the fund.
ARGT has a 0.75% expense ratio.
The fund currently holds 21 stocks, and the top ten make up 80.4% of the overall portfolio.
Sector allocations include basic materials 34%, consumer cyclical 35.7%, financial services 8.9%, real estate 2.0%, telecom services 5.7%, energy 9.2%, consumer defensive 2.6% and utilities 2.0%.
The ETF has a 1.07% 12-month yield.
ARGT is down 0.3% over the past month, up 5.3% over the last three months and down 17.5% over the past year.
On a risk basis, the fund shows a 2.2% beta to the S&P 500 and a 1.56 beta to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
According to Morningstar, the ETF is trading at a 0.34% bid/ask spread and a 0.08% discount to its net asset value.
The Latest News :
Argentine stocks have been gaining momentum, charged by the record gains in the U.S. markets, reports Shane Romig for the Dow Jones News Wire.
On Wednesday, the college of cardinals elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires as the next Pope in Vatican city.
The newly elected Pope Francis is the first Latin American to lead the Roman Catholic Churck, reports Gavin Hewitt for BBC.
The Mervel index of 13 leading Argentine stocks popped higher in late day trading after the Vatican announced the new Pope, reports Laura Mandaro for MarketWatch.
The economy could also witness growth as its neighbor, Brazil, ramps up efforts ahead of hosting the World Cup and Summer Olympics.
Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF
For past stories in this series, visit our ETF Spotlight category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.