India ETF Debuts on NYSE Arca

By Staff Writer

April 01, 2008 at 04:00 AM

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The PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN) began trading March 5 on the NYSE Arca.

The new fund follows the Indus India Index which provides coverage to industry sectors like information technology, health sciences, financial services, and consumer products.

Fifty Indian stocks are chosen from a universe of the largest listed companies on the two major Indian exchanges – the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

Top holdings include Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, HDFC Bank, Satyam Computer Services and Tata Motors.

The performance of Indian stocks along with other emerging markets has cooled in 2008. To date, India's Bombay Sensex has declined 19.5 percent.

The new PowerShares ETF will compete with the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (EPI), introduced at the end of February.

The WisdomTree ETF has 150 stocks and emphasizes earnings profitability. The expense ratio is 0.88 percent versus 0.78 percent for the PowerShares fund.

"India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and it also boasts the globe's second largest population and fourth largest GDP. We believe PIN is an excellent choice for investors seeking diversified access to a broad portfolio of Indian securities," says Bruce Bond, president and CEO of PowerShares.

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Ron DeLegge is the San Diego-based editor of www.etfguide.com.

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