Nearly every major world economy now has an ETF which tracks its broad market perfromance.  Because most track the relevent MSCI index – the broadest possible measure of a market’s performance- one would expect these funds to be rather boring. Yet many single country ETFs are among this year’s top performers, and are some are generating staggering returns

The Market Vectors Russia (RSX)  is currently the best performing ETF traded in the US, up a massive 52% YTD.  The ETFs which track Chile (ECH) and Brazil (EWZ) aren’t far behind at 39% YTD.  This year Taiwan (EWT) has returned 36%, India (EPI)  around 28%, and Thailand (THD) a respectable 26%.  All told single country ETF’s make up 5 of the top 25 ETF performers YTD, and regional ETFs which combine the broad market indexs of several countries make up another 5.

The wild upswing in emerging market equities represent a significant recovery from the lows of last year, when many investors fled risky markets of the safe haven of the US Dollar. Yet despte recent gains most emerging markets are still significantly off their 2008 highs. The RSX is still down 60% year over year, meaning there is still potential upside to come.

Panicked global markets fell in unison last year, but each market is likely to recover separately as national economies bounce back at different speeds.  Single county ETFs offer a convenient way to play this effect of economic crisis by allowing investors to bet on the macroeconomic fortunes of particular economies, and are likely to offer good opportunities for the duration of the global recession.