2014: The Year of the Portugal ETF? - ETF News And Commentary
January 25 2014 - 2:00PM
Zacks
The European economy finally heaved a sigh of relief last year,
with gains of about 25% for the SPDR
EURO STOXX 50
(
FEZ) and 20% for the
SPDR STOXX Europe
50 (
FEU). The main driver of this uptrend
was Euro zone’s emergence from the acute debt-trap.
While all eyes remained on big names like Germany and France,
investors should note that the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy,
Greece and Spain) countries, often considered the weakest members
in the Euro zone, have been seeing big gains too (read: Why PIIGS
ETFs Are Outperforming).
Among the pack, the ETF industry had pure plays on each of the
nations for quite some time except Portugal which debuted in the
market just two months back in the form of
FTSE Portugal 20
ETF (
PGAL).
PGAL’s debut was well accepted as it added 8.05% in the last one
month, performing better than the broader European fund
Vanguard FTSE Europe
ETF‘s (
VGK) 3.74% return and
SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s
(SPY) return of
1.73%.
Notably, PGAL’s return breezed past a handful of single-country
Euro zone ETFs in the said time-period as the ETF dedicated to
Germany –
iShares MSCI Germany (EWG) – added
2.75%,
Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK) gained
6.64% and
iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF (EWI)
returned 7.31%. Only
iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF
(EWP) became was able to beat PGAL marginally by adding
8.39% (read: Is a Great Year Ahead for the Spain ETF?).
Why the interest in this new PIIGS ETF?
After struggling for more than two years, the Portugal economy
returned to the growth path in the second quarter of 2013.
Declining unemployment, a lower trade deficit and rising consumer
confidence all are playing their role in pulling up the nation from
the debt debacle.
The part which caught investor eyes is the improving debt picture
of the once debt-ridden Portugal. The recent uptrend in PGAL can be
attributed to the Portuguese government’s ability to auction $4.4
billion in bonds effectively. This was Portugal’s first sovereign
debt sale in eight months.
Portugal’s borrowing costs plunged to the lowest level since the
start of Euro zone debt crisis in 2009. As per data from Bloomberg,
the average yield investors demand to hold bonds from Greece,
Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain fell to 161 basis points, the
lowest since April 2010. This means investors are gaining faith on
the region’s most distressed asset class.
As per the European Commission, Portugal’s gross public debt as a
percentage of GDP will decline to 126.7% in 2014 and 125.7% in 2015
from the high point of 127.8% recorded in 2013. Real GDP growth
will likely be 0.8% for 2014 and 1.5% for 2015 indicating marked
improvement from the decline of 1.8% in 2013 and 3.2% in 2012.
Net exports are expected to be the source of the potential growth
while domestic demand is likely to contribute meaningfully in 2014.
However, the joblessness rate is not expected drop before 2015.
Portugal ETF in Focus
Despite the solid start, the fund hasn’t garnered a whole lot of
investor interest by accumulating about $3 million in AUM since
inception. The ETF charges a little higher in fees per year of 61
bps.
The product looks to track the performance of the FTSE Portugal 20
Index, holding 20 Portuguese stocks in its basket. The index
focuses on the biggest stocks in the nation (or those that
primarily derive their revenues from the country), screening by
liquidity and market capitalization (read: Global X Launches First
Portugal ETF (PGAL)).
The fund is heavily concentrated on the
top firm – Energias De Portugal – at about18% of total assets,
closely followed by Gulp Energia and Jeronimo Martins at 14% and
12.5% respectively.
From a sector perspective, utilities and consumer services dominate
the fund’s portfolio at nearly 26% and 23%, respectively,
indicating that the ETF might not be too volatile due to higher
allocations to defensive sectors (see: all the European ETFs
here).
Bottom Line
With European stocks roaming around at six-year high levels, major
banking organizations have predicted that the limelight will be
particularly on Europe in 2014 pushing aside the U.S. equities.
Amid such a bullish backdrop, risk-tolerant investors might bet on
the Portugal ETF taking a cue from its all-important improved debt
market and consider PGAL as a strong play this year (read: Ride
Europe Higher with This Top Ranked ETF).
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SPDR-STX EU 50 (FEU): ETF Research Reports
SPDR-EU STX 50 (FEZ): ETF Research Reports
GLBL-XF PORTG20 (PGAL): ETF Research Reports
VANGD-FTSE EUR (VGK): ETF Research Reports
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