ETF Database submits:

Earlier this month, we sat down with Bruno del Ama, the CEO of Global X, to talk about the dynamic Latin America market. Global X is one of the main providers of ETFs that target the Latin America market, with six South American funds in total, including products tracking the individual economies of Colombia (GXG) and Argentina (ARGT). In this interview, we discuss some of the reasons why the region appeals to Global X and how these economies could fare in the turbulent times we are facing.

ETF Database (ETFdb): Global X is one of the leaders in the Latin America ETF market. What about the continent specifically appeals to the investment team?

Bruno del Ama (BdA): We are focused on Latin American ETFs because of the resources and growth potential of the region. Latin America is a global powerhouse when it comes to food and commodities production. In addition

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Tom Lydon submits:

Frontier markets is an investment sector that is just gaining traction with investors. ETFs tracking these markets have given individual and institutional investors alike exposure to exotic markets with growth potential. This exposure doesn’t come with out risks though, just take a look at what is happening in North Africa and the Middle East.

The term “frontier markets” is often used to describe growing markets that are generally less developed, smaller in market capitalization, less liquid and less accessible to investors than “emerging market” countries. Dennis Hudacheck for Index Universe helps decipher some of the latest frontier market ETFs.

Some to keep an eye on:

• Guggenheim Frontier Markets ETF (FRN) – Tracks the BNY Mellon New Frontier DR Index; countries are classified according to GDP, per capita income, inflation rates, privatization of infrastructure, and social inequalities. Chile, Egypt and Colombia are top weightings, representing 59% of the portfolio.
• PowerShares MENA

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David Hunkar submits:

The chart below shows the five-year performance comparison of the top three Chilean banks and the four largest banks in the U.S:

[Click to enlarge]

Banco Santander Chile (SAN) and Banco de Chile (BCH) are the first- and second-largest Chilean banks based on assets, while CorpBanca (BCA) is one of the top 10 banks by assets.

In the past five years, the S&P 500 has been flat at 0.83%. Among the four largest U.S. banks, only JPMorgan Chase has been a decent performer. This week, the

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Jim Pyke submits:

Latin America continues to offer strong growth prospects as noted by strong performance from numerous ETFs focused on the region. However, there are specific stock opportunities that can also provide strong dividends. This article will focus on identifying American Depository Receipts (ADRs) for high yielding Latin American stocks. There are also potential ETF and other options that could provide income, but I’ll ignore those for this article. The initial screen was to simply identify ADRs for these countries. I pulled from several web resources to compile an initial list of almost 80 companies of which around 50 paid some sort of dividend. The following 15 stocks had the highest yields:

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David Hunkar submits:

The Global Finance magazine has published the list of Best Banks in Latin America for 2011. The winners were selected based on factors such as growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing, innovative products, etc.

The World’s Best Emerging Market Banks in Latin America 2011

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Jim Pyke submits:

I previously wrote an article on investing in Latin American ETFs. I took a look at Chile and wanted to dig a little deeper.

Chile was very unique among the countries I looked at, since it had a greater ratio of equity market capitalization to GDP than even the United States. This is somewhat interesting, since it suggests well developed capital markets. Its 231 publicly-traded companies have an average size of about $1.5 billion. Also, there are enough Chilean companies that are traded on U.S. exchanges to dig further rather than just suggesting you invest in iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index (ECH). Furthermore, ECH exhibits a low correlation to SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY). Another ETF alternative is the Aberdeen Chile Fund, Inc. (CH).

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The Sovereign Society submits:

Looking for some simple guidance on what stocks to buy or sell?

Well, Wall Street is more than happy to help.

In fact, big banks in Wall Street employ hundreds of equity analysts who spend countless hours analyzing stocks

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Jim Pyke submits:

While Latin America investing is often focused on the more recognized Brazil and Mexico ETFs and in particular iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) and iShares MSCI Mexico (EWW), there are several other investment opportunities stretching across other nations. This article will highlight some of the other available ETFs and their countries of origin.

Latin America is a large, but in some ways fragmented economic block. Latin America encompasses Mexico through Central America and into South America with a population of close to 600 million spread across 20 countries. From an economic perspective, there are several splinters since Mexico is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Some additional trading blocks are the Union of South American Countries and CARICOM, comprised of the Caribbean countries. Some additional countries have free trade agreements with the United States.

This article will focus on the following countries and their associated ETFs. While additional mutual

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Michael Johnston submits:

Van Eck, the issuer behind several country-specific emerging and frontier market ETFs, announced today the latest addition to its product lineup. The Market Vectors Colombia ETF (COLX) will seek to replicate the Market Vectors Colombia Index, a benchmark that consists of companies either domiciled and primarily listed on an exchange in Colombia or generating at least 50% of their revenues in Colombia. The underlying index includes about 30 securities with market capitalizations ranging from $150 million to more than $80 billion, capturing a significant portion of the publicly-traded Colombian equity market.

COLX will be the second ETF to offer pure play exposure to the Colombian economy, joining a fund from Global X that has been on the market since early 2009. The InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG) is linked to a cap-weighted index that consists of the 20 most liquid stocks in the Colombian market. That fund is tilted

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Michael Johnston submits:

Van Eck, the issuer behind several country-specific emerging and frontier market ETFs, announced today the latest addition to its product lineup. The Market Vectors Colombia ETF (COLX) will seek to replicate the Market Vectors Colombia Index, a benchmark that consists of companies either domiciled and primarily listed on an exchange in Colombia or generating at least 50% of their revenues in Colombia. The underlying index includes about 30 securities with market capitalizations ranging from $150 million to more than $80 billion, capturing a significant portion of the publicly-traded Colombian equity market.

COLX will be the second ETF to offer pure play exposure to the Colombian economy, joining a fund from Global X that has been on the market since early 2009. The InterBolsa FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG) is linked to a cap-weighted index that consists of the 20 most liquid stocks in the Colombian market. That fund is tilted

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