Van Eck Unveils Indonesia ETF
January 21, 2009   

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) - Van Eck Global has just introduced a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track the Indonesian equity market.   

The Market Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (NYSEArca: IDX) contains a small basket of 25 stocks that generate 50 percent or more of the revenue from this emerging market country.  

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Companies within the index are weighted by their market capitalization and must have a market size greater than $150 million ( US) to be included. The target market coverage for the index is 90% of the free-float market capitalization of the investable equity universe in Indonesia. The index is maintained by Standard & Poor's and is rebalanced on a quarterly basis. 

"Like all emerging markets, Indonesia is challenged by the current global economic climate, but its ongoing reforms should help sustain its longer-term growth potential," said Jan van Eck, Principal at Van Eck Global.   

Indonesian stocks declined by 49.3 percent in 2008 and have been hit hard by the global financial crisis along with other emerging markets.   

In October 2008, PT Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI), a company that manages the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), halted trading in Indonesian stocks after the Composite Stock Index fell by 10.4 percent.   

The top industry sectors represented inside IDX are energy (30.1 percent), telecommunications (12.7 percent), and basic materials (11.4 percent). The fund's top three holdings are PT Astra International (7.8 percent), Bank Central Asia (7.7 percent), and Telekomunikasi Indonesia (7.2 percent).   

IDX is listed on the NYSEArca its annual net expenses are 0.71%.  

The U.S. ETF market currently has 15 ETFs covering emerging market equities and 56 single country international ETFs.  

Van Eck Global was founded in 1955 and currently offers 21 ETFs with $4.48 billion in assets. The firm also offers mutual funds, insurance trust funds, and separate accounts.