iShares debuts New Zealand ETF

iShares has released the first ETF providing single-country exposure to New Zealand, listing the fund on NYSE Arca.

The ETF tracks the MSCI New Zealand Investable Market index, which is designed to calculate the performance of equity securities listed on stock exchanges in New Zealand.

According to the International Monetary Fund, New Zealand is expected to have real gross domestic product growth of around 3% a year in 2010 and 2011. The country's economy has also benefited from high growth rates in Asia and Australia.

The largest sector weightings at present include materials at 23%, telecommunications at 16% and consumer discretionary at 14%.

iShares head of US product Noel Archard says the fund provides first-to-market access to a developed country amid strong economic recovery.

He adds: "As the trend for international investing via single countries increases, the new iShares fund further enhances our large single country iShares ETF lineup.

"Investors are increasingly interested in the precision of single country investing to implement international-focused investment strategies."

The new launch extends the iShares International single country offering to more than 30 funds. The New Zealand fund has a total expense ratio of 0.55%.