South Korea ETF Favored As Long-Term Bet By The ETF Professor

Alright, the ETF Professor admits to being a little late to this party, but this pick should be a viewed as something more than a short-term trade. With South Korea's economy growing by 2.9% in the third quarter, it is clear that is more to the Asian investment thesis than just China. That's the first year-over-year growth in the country's GDP in four quarters.

That makes the iShares MSCI South Korea Index (NYSE: EWY) a good idea from the long side. EWY is very liquid, averaging 3.5 millions shares traded per day and has over $2.7 billion in assets. Top holdings include Hyundai, Posco and LG, though those are in Seoul-listed shares, not ADRs. Roughly 30% of EWY is invested in technology companies, a major component of the South Korean economy. So EWY is a tech AND emerging markets play.

The Professor notes the ETF notes that EWY has doubled over the past 52 weeks, but if you're looking a longer-term emerging market play, you could do a lot worse than EWY. The Professor thinks it's safe to start a small position here.