And thanks to ETFs, more than half of them are investable.
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
Bloomberg recently released a report detailing the world's riskiest countries for business. The robust analysis used 35 equally weighted risk indicators spanning financial, economic and political risks. Some noteworthy inclusions include foreign exchange risk, political violence and the regulatory environment.
Wall Street's oldest mantra says that risk equals reward. Only time will tell if investors will actually be compensated for risk in these countries, but fortunately, investing in many of them is easy. Of the 20 riskiest countries, 12 have ETFs dedicated to their economy that trade all day on American exchanges:
- Nigeria (#2 riskiest): Global X Nigeria (NGE | F-55)
- Egypt (#3): Market Vectors Egypt (EGPT | F-46)
- Argentina (#5): Global X FTSE Argentina 20 (ARGT | D-24)
- India (#8): iShares MSCI India (INDA | C-94)
- Russia (#11): Market Vectors Russia (RSX | C-62)
- South Africa (#13): iShares MSCI South Africa (EZA | B-90)
- Indonesia (#14): iShares MSCI Indonesia (EIDO | B-98)
- Turkey (#15): iShares MSCI Turkey (TUR | B-99)
- Brazil (#17): iShares MSCI Brazil Capped (EWZ | C-97)
- Philippines (#18): iShares MSCI Philippines (EPHE | B-98)
- Vietnam (#19): Market Vectors Vietnam (VNM | C-34)
- Colombia (#20): Global X FTSE Colombia 20 (GXG | D-45)
To find ETFs targeting other countries on the list, try this ETF Screener.
