Four Country-Specific ETFs Your Broker Forgot To Mention

Investors love international ETFs. That's just a fact, but for the doubters, consider this: There are nearly 160 ETFs offering exposure to China. That's more than 10% of the entire ETF universe. Access to Brazil is granted through almost 70 ETFs and investors can find their way to Russia via nearly 50 ETFs. Of course, we're just scratching the surface here. With the rapid pace of new product introductions, there may come a time when nearly every country in the world has at least one ETF representing it. Even before that day arrives, the current population of country-specific ETFs is large enough that many go undiscovered. So next time your broker tries to put you in the same old Brazil or China large-cap ETFs, do your own due diligence in search of what may be better opportunities. Here are some of the better choices among country-specific ETFs to get you started. 1) Guggenheim China Technology ETF CQQQ: Much has been made about the recent spate of Chinese Internet IPOs. Some will survive, many will not, but it is clear that the large-cap Chinese Internet names are where you want to be. CQQQ offers combined exposure of more than 20% to Baidu BIDU and Sina SINA and is one of the few ETFs to offer noteworthy exposure to Tencent Holdings, China's largest Web company, which doesn't trade in the U.S. 2) WisdomTree Australia Dividend Fund AUSE: We recently highlighted AUSE as the “other” Australia ETF, one that is overshadowed by the more popular iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund EWA. Given that AUSE and EWA have performed in lock-step with each other this year, AUSE is clearly the better choice on the basis of yield and sector diversity. 3) IQ Japan Mid Cap RSUN: Not even two months old, RSUN is the first Japan-specific mid-cap play to come to market. It's too early to pass judgment on RSUN, but for the ETF may prove alluring to patient value investors willing to bet Japan's darkest economic days are behind it. Home to 100 stocks and a 0.69% expense ratio. 4) Global X Mexico Small Cap ETF MEXS: The first small-cap play on Mexico, MEXS is three months old and has not gotten the respect it deserves. Mexico's investment thesis is usually overshadowed by Brazil and while Brazil is the sexier destination, Mexico can safely say that inflation isn't as much of a problem there as it is in Brazil. There's another reason to consider MEXS over a comparable Brazil-specific ETF. Say what you want, but the U.S. is an infinitely more reliable trading partner than China. The U.S. is Mexico's top trading partner. China is Brazil's. Every time Beijing hikes interest rates, Sao Paulo feels the pinch. That's not an issue MEXS has to worry about.