Indian equity, as tracked by the iShares MSCI India ETF INDA, has been outperforming all other BRICS nations.
The ETF is up 16.3% over the past one year, followed closely by the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF EWZ at 12.9%, while Russian, Chinese and South African equity lag far behind.
Billionaire hedge fund manager, Ray Dalio, has long been an investor in the emerging markets. His hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates‘ top holding is the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF IEMG which has an 18.52% portfolio allocation towards India. Dalio’s hedge fund has another 1.42% invested in the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF VWO which has just over 20% allocated in Indian equity.
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At the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024 event in Davos, Dalio spoke about India. In an interview with Business Today TV, Dalio told Siddharth Zarabi that “India is at a very special moment… not burdened by an excessive amount of debt.”
Dalio emphasized a prudent approach to Indian markets. Acknowledging their current high valuations, Dalio advised cautious exposure to the economy. Dalio, a strong believer in market cycles, said that he would have exposure to Indian markets but “wouldn’t be overextended” at their current valuations.
He also highlighted India’s distinct advantage that the economy is not burdened by an excessive amount of debt. “It strikes me very much similar to where China was when Deng Xiaoping came in roughly 1980,” said Dalio. Dalio also expressed his hope for India’s market openness and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s leadership.
Besides the emerging market ETFs that Dalio is invested in an INDA, other ways to get exposure to Indian equity are the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund EPI, the First Trust India Nifty 50 Equal Weight ETF NFTY, the iShares India 50 ETF INDY and the Exchange Traded Concepts Trust India Internet & Ecommerce ETF INQQ.
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