Stock price when the opinion was issued
Emerging markets are breaking out from a long-term, 5-7 years, sideways move. The valuation on this is really interesting. The weighted average P/E ratio is 13.7. It is about 70% Asia, and more specifically about a quarter is China. Has had a good run being up about 25% in 12 months, but thinks that will continue.
A lot of ETF’s are static in nature, and are truly passive, 30% China, 30% Russia, 20% India, etc. What is attractive about this one is that you have the bright minds in Goldman Sachs. It is an actively managed ETF. They are not just statically buying a basket, they could go to 0% China if they wanted. MER is only 20 basis points.
It weights stocks by risk factor, like low volatility and momentum. The smart Beta phenomenon has come into force in ETFs. As a macro investor, he likes pure beta. Prefers picking stocks by picking themes, trends, sectors and countries. A fine ETF, but prefers accessing emerging markets by picking countries and sectors instead.
He likes the concept of active management. However, you need to be aware of the funds mandate. As an ETF, it will be very limited in its management. This fund is limited to emerging markets, which he feels is the not the best asset to be adding to right now.