Some County ETFs Outperforming Their Home Indexes

In late September, Benzinga looked at several emerging markets ETFs that were, to that point, performing worse than the major index in their home country. The list of five that we came up with wasn't altogether and included the following ETFs: The iShares/FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI), the iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund (NYSE: EWZ), the iShares MSCI Taiwan Index Fund (NYSE: EWT), the iShares MSCI Peru All Capped Index Fund (NYSE: EPU) and the iShares MSCI Mexico Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EWW).

Well, we like to be fair and we certainly don't want to develop a reputation as a bunch of Debbie Downers, so we decided to flip things around and look for some country-specific ETFs that are performing better than the major index in their homelands this year.

Some might surprise you and some should be taken with a grain of salt. Here they are:

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (NYSE: EWJ): Speaking of take it with a grain of salt, we have the iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund, the largest Japan-specific ETF on the market. When we say EWJ has outperformed the Nikkei 225 this year, don't get too excited. What that means is the ETF is down slightly less than 15% year-to-date while the Index is down a bit more than 15%.

iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund (NYSE: EWH): Almost the same example as we saw with EWJ. The iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund is the oldest and largest Hong Kong-specific ETF on the market today, but that doesn't help when Chinese stocks are being hit as they've been this year. While both are in the red year-to-date, EWH deserves some credit for performing better than the Hang Seng.

iShares MSCI Switzerland Index Fund (NYSE: EWL): In all the commotion in Europe this year, Switzerland's safe-haven status has certainly been validated. Well, that really means the franc's safe-haven status has been validated and a soaring currency is never good news for an export driven economy. However, EWL has found a way to sharply outperform the Swiss Market Index, though both are negative on the year.

Global X/FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (NYSE: GXG): Mainly due to Brazil's woes, Latin American equities have been dragged lower this year and Colombia hasn't escaped the carnage. There are several exchanges in Colombia, but the IGBC Index from the Colombia Stock Exchange, also known as the General Index, is where you'll find a lot of GXG's constituents and the ETF has managed to turn a far superior performance to that the IGBC this year.

iShares MSCI Thailand Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: THD): By a nose, THD has outperformed the SET Index in 2011. And if you need another one from this region, the Market Vectors Indonesia ETF (NYSE: IDX) has also just barely nudged the major index in its home country.