The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) has been a fairly disappointing performer in 2022 thus far. Year to date, this ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) has lost a painful 26.22% of its value. It has fallen from around $9.40 a unit at the start of the year to the $6.95 we see today.

So it might come as something of a surprise to learn that this fund was in the top three best-performing ASX ETFs of November. Yep, over the month just passed, the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF rose from $5.68 to the $6.74 price it closed at yesterday. That's a gain worth an impressive 18.66%.

As it happens, all three of the ASX 's highest-performing ETFs last month had large positions in the Chinese markets.

In addition to the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF, the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ASX: IZZ) and the iShares Asia 50 ETF (ASX: IAA) both had stellar months too.

This optimism could reflect anticipation that China could, at last, begin to relinquish its long-held and ultra-strict 'zero-COVID' policies that the country has stuck to since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

China has been facing rolling protests in recent weeks over its lockdown-happy policies. Those are policies that have been abandoned in most other countries of the world.

So if China does indeed start to open up, is the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF a good way to play this reopening?

Is the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF a bet on a reopened China?

Well, let's look at the fund's underlying portfolio to gauge this.

So the BetaShares Asia Tigers ETF doesn't just invest in China and Chinese companies. It is exposed to other countries like Taiwan, South Korea and India as well.

Saying that, almost half of this ETF's portfolio is weighted towards Chinese and Hong-Kong listed shares. Its third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth largest shares are all Chinese. They include names like Alibaba, Tencent Holdings, Pinduoduo and JD.com.

So while the BetaSahres Asia Tigers ETF is not a China pure-play, it is certainly highly exposed to the Chinese markets. The past month has proven that it is a valid investment for anyone looking to potentially benefit from a Chinese reopening. Although perhaps not quite as China-exposed as the iShares China Large-Cap ETF.

But remember, China has to officially reopen first. That is certainly not a given at this point, whatever the markets are hoping for.

The post Is the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASIA) an ASX buy for China's reopening? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Thus, it's a good time to start having a look back at the month that is just about to pass us by and see what kinds of investments were making hay.

So without further ado, here are the ASX's three top-performing ETFs of November as they currently stand. See if you can spot a theme.

Here are the top 3 ASX ETFs of November

iShares Asia 50 ETF (ASX: IAA)

Our first ETF today is one from provider iShares. It covers the largest 50 companies listed across multiple Asian countries, including China, Kong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Kora and Taiwan. Its largest holdings include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai and Baidu.

The iShares Asia 50 ETF has had a stellar month over November. It started the month at a unit price of $72.04. But at the time of writing, it is commanding a price of $83.60. That's a gain worth just over 16%.

BetaShares Asian Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

The BetaShares Asian Tigers ETF is next up. Here we have an ETF that is similar in nature and coverage to the iShares Asia 50 fund, but with a portfolio more concentrated towards tech shares.

We also have holdings like Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in the top portfolio spots. But more dominant are Chinese tech names like Alibaba, Tencent Holdings and Pinduoduo.

The Asian Tigers ETF began November at a price of $5.68 per unit. But today, those same units are asking $6.72 each. That's a gain worth 18.3% for the month as it currently stands.

iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ASX: IZZ)

This ETF from iShares is our final and best-performing ASX ETF from November. It covers some of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Again, you might recognise some of its largest holdings, including Alibaba, Tencent Holdings, Meituan and JD.com.

The iShares China Large-Cap ETF has had a rough few years. Even today, it has lost an average of 9.48% per annum over the past five years. But we can't take away this fund's spectacular November. The iShares China ETF started the month at $33.33 per unit. But today, it is asking $40.12 at the time of writing, a gain of 20.4%.

The post Want to know what the 3 top performing ASX ETFs in November have been? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But even though ASX index funds are some of the most popular ETFs with Aussie investors, not all ETFs track indexes like the ASX 200. And as such, not all ASX ETFs had such a lucrative 2021.

So here is a list of the worst-performing ASX ETFs from last year:

2021's worst ASX ETF performers revealed

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

This ETF from provider BetaShares is first up. ASIA is a fund that tracks a basket of tech-focused shares from the Asia Pacific region. Many of its holdings hail from the People's Republic of China (43.9%), but it also has significant exposure to other countries like Taiwan, South Korea and India. You might recognise some of its top holdings like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Samsung, Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

This ETF has clearly felt the repercussions of the slump in many Asian markets over the past year, particularly China's. It returned -14.94% last year.

iShares China Large-Cap ETF AUD (ASX: IZZ)

Another Asia-focused fund, this ETF from iShares was another poor performer last year. As you can probably gather from the name, IZZ invests in the largest companies in China. It holds many of the same companies as ASIA, including Alibaba and Tencent. But other names include Meituan, China Construction Bank Corp and Ping An Insurance. As we've just discussed, China hasn't had the best 12 months, and we can see this reflected in IZZ's performance. This ETF went backwards by 15.3% last year.

ETFS S&P Biotech ETF (ASX: CURE)

Despite its humorous ticker code, investors were probably not too amused by this fund's 2021 performance. CURE is a thematic ETF that focuses on US companies in the biotechnology space in fields such as genetic analysis and engineering. Some of its top holdings include Arena Pharmaceuticals, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals and Incyte Corp. Unfortunately for investors, this fund failed to engineer any growth last year, falling by 15.8% over 2021. Hopefully 2022 will CURE investors' woes.

BetaShares Strong Australian Dollar Fund (ASX: AUDS)

Here we have a different beast. This fund is a simple one and doesn't invest in shares at all. Instead, this ETF from BetaShares gives "geared exposure to changes in the value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar".

According to the provider, "AUDS generally expects to generate a positive return of between 2% and 2.75% for a 1% rise in the value of the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar on a given day (and vice versa)". Unfortunately, the 'vice versa' is what occurred over 2021. This ETF fell a nasty 16.54% last year as the Aussie declined in value against the greenback for most of 2021.

Short ETFs top worst performing funds of 2021

Our final spot is shared jointly by three ETFs that proved very disappointing indeed for investors. This writer has grouped them together because they all operate in similar ways and their dismal performance can also be blamed on this. The BetaShares Australian Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund (ASX: BBOZ), the BetaShares U.S. Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund (ASX: BBUS) and the ETFS Ultra Short Nasdaq 100 Hedge Fund (ASX: SNAS) topped the ASX's worst ETF performers in 2021 with steep losses of 32.8%, 46.9% and 48.7% respectively.

These ETFs are 'short' funds that use leverage and other financial engineering to rise in value when the indexes they track fall. BBOZ inversely tracks the ASX 200, while both the BBUS and SNAS ETFs do the same for the US markets. Unfortunately for investors in these funds, both countries' markets rose strongly over 2021, resulting in these heavy losses.

The post Here are the worst performing ASX ETFs of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Australian exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in Asian companies went gangbusters in October.

Local ETFs were on fire last month, breaking the industry's all-time record for incoming money and reaching a historic-high for total funds held.

But popularity doesn't equate to performance, so it's interesting to see which products fared the best for its investors.

The latest Betashares report showed 3 of the top 5 performing funds in October were Asia-themed.

5 best-performing Australian ETF in October 2020 

Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) rose 8.3% for the month, on the back of a calmer COVID-19 environment compared to the western world.

The fund has gained 67% for the 12 months ending 31 October, according to Betashares head of strategy Ilan Israelstam.

"During the pandemic, Asian technology stocks have benefited both from the strong showing of Asian stocks in general, and from the outperformance of the technology sector," he said.

"Asian economies have demonstrated a greater ability to gain control of COVID-19 outbreaks than their American and European counterparts, while technology stocks have been the leading performers around the world as the world increasingly went online as the virus took hold."

Australian investors are buying even more Chinese stocks this month as a new US president is poised to reset a now-toxic trade relationship.

The Australian ETF industry generally had an excellent October, adding $2.3 billion of funds. This is the highest-ever monthly inflow.

Vanguard and Betashares are dominant among the suppliers, each racking up more than $4 billion of investor money this year.

The post Best performing Aussie ETFs right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Investing in China is something of a controversial topic. Over the past couple of years, China's relationships with both Australia and the United States have unquestionably deteriorated. Both China's political and economic models of governance remain controversial and as such, many Australians might be feeling uneasy about investing in China directly. Even so, China remains a fertile hunting ground for many investors. It's one of the fastest-growing economies among the emerging markets of the world, and its unique commercial landscape affords many interesting opportunities. So how does one easily invest in China and Chinese businesses from the comfort of Australia?

Well, I think the best way to do so is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Here are 2 ASX China EFTS that investors can choose from today for exposure to the Chinese market.

iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ASX: IZZ)

This ETF from iShares is our first ASX option. It holds 50 of the largest companies listed in mainland China with a simple weighting method based on pure market capitalisation. IZZ's 5 largest holdings include Meituan Dianping, Tencent Holdings, China Construction Bank, Xiaomi Corp and Ping An Insurance Group.

IZZ charges a management fee of 0.74% per annum, offers a trailing dividend distribution yield of 2.44% and has returned an average of 5.68% over the past 5 years.

The post Want to invest in China? Here are 2 ASX China ETFs to choose from appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Despite being the country where the outbreak of COVID-19 originated, China was the first economy to emerge from the pandemic. Some analysts now predict China's economy will experience a V-shaped rebound, going from -2% growth this year to 8% in 2021. 

Given the underlying weakness in the Chinese economy – including a soft export market, low domestic demand and lingering trade wars – it's easy to see why investors would be wary of this market. However, when compared with the bleak economic outlook globally – which will hamper recovery in corporate earnings – some exposure to China looks justified, in my opinion.

It is the only global economy that's expected to be in positive territory this year.

With full year growth expected to come in at 1.8%, the country appears to have has miraculously dodged a technical recession, and some economists, like BlackRock, expect the world's second largest economy to experience "near-trend growth" as soon as late 2020.

In addition to the return of strong export markets, what China's economic stimulus is now focused on is middle-class shoppers spending more as job stability returns to post-COVID-19 levels. China's reliance on consumer spending cannot be understated, with consumption contributing to two-thirds of the country's economic growth, according to recent figures.

Greater risk in not investing in China

Despite trade wars, geopolitical tensions and post-COVID-19 economic uncertainty, there are still ways to take measured bets on China. If you're prepared to do your homework, it's possible to get good exposure to China's recovery story. Despite the pandemic, some fund managers have already done this.

For example, back in March at the height of the pandemic, Magellan fund manager, Hamish Douglass increased his allocation to China from 14% a year ago to 25%, via exposure to just a handful stocks. While the fund manager used to be invested only in Apple, Starbucks and Yum Brands, it has now added LVMH, Estee Lauder, Alibaba and Tencent to its holdings in China.

Assuming the focus remains on quality companies, Douglass believes it's more risky not to invest in China over the next 20 years. He cited Starbucks as a great way to access the Chinese middle-class, where a new store was opening in China on average every 15 hours.

Then there's Zenith Investment Partners, which pre-COVID had already increased its average exposure to China from 18% to 22%. Zenith's exposure to what are referred to as A-shares – those listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges – also doubled from 2% to 4%.

Despite being relatively out of favour, and underweight within (most) global portfolios, in my view Chinese equities look to have been oversold. This creates opportunities for those willing to take a long-term view.

Signs of a rebound are already evident, with recovery picking up steam in June on the back of the Chinese government's 'new style' infrastructure spending (like 5G) – plus other fiscal stimulus measures – designed to drive both domestic consumption and help reopen overseas markets.

Exposure to China through ASX ETFs

If you like the idea of having exposure to China, but don't have the stomach to be a stock-picker within this market, another way to play China's recovery story is through ASX-listed China exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Despite rallying 34% in the last year, my favoured ASX-listed China ETF is VanEck Vectors China New Economy (ASX: CNEW). The shares on this index seem to be in the sweet-spot of China's economic stimulus measures.

In an effort to help stabilise its domestic market, the People's Bank of China is committed to extending more credit to small businesses that had their liquidity stretched during the lockdown. Unlike the global financial crisis (GFC), this time around economic stimulus measures are primarily focused on technologies of the future, including everything from electric cars, industrial robotics, through to artificial intelligence (AI). As investor with exposure to China, this is something to be aware of.

CNEW seeks to provide investors with access to a portfolio of the most fundamentally sound companies, with the best growth prospects – in consumer discretionary, consumer staples, healthcare, and technology sectors – that are domiciled and listed in mainland China. The three biggest holdings within CNEW (which holds 120 shares) include Guangdong Biolight Meditech Co Ltd, Jiangsu Zitian Media Technology Co Ltd and G-bits Network Technology (Xiamen) Co Ltd A.

Other China-based ETFs listed on the ASX include VanEck Vectors China A-Share (ASX: CETF), which is up by 2.81% over the last 12 months, and Ishares China Large-Cap (ASX: IZZ), which is down 1.28% over the last 12 months.

ETFs aside, it's also important to note that any ongoing fiscal stimulus-driven upswing for China stocks also bodes well for fund managers whose exposure to China may have fallen along with the market last year. For example, ASX-listed Platinum Asset Management Ltd (ASX: PTM), which has around a 5th of its holdings in China, looks well positioned to benefit from China's new infrastructure stimulus measures. Since peaking at around $8.50 early February 2018, the Platinum share price is now trading at below half of that high, at $3.76 per share.

Then there are another 30 to 40 funds that could also benefit from their exposure to a Chinese recovery, including the Magellan Global Trust (ASX: MGG) and the Fidelity Asia Fund.

Exposure to China through ASX shares

While resource stocks aren't in the direct eye of China's current stimulus measures, some sub-sectors, like base metals (notably iron ore, which is currently selling for around US$100/tonne) are still a net beneficiary of the strong demand for steel. Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is the most dominant playmaker in this space in my opinion. Also adding to Fortescue's fortunes are the export downgrades by its biggest competitors Vale and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO).

China's plans to move from coal to gas-fired power, also presents enormous long-term opportunities for Australian providers. Despite a notable deterioration in trade relations, China became Australia's biggest market for LNG in April, accounting for 40% of total exports. Key beneficiaries include the Queensland-based Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG)'s Australia Pacific LNG Venture and the Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)-run North-West Shelf venture in WA.

Resource shares aside, with China's stimulus measures focused squarely on consumers, any improvement in confidence could also provide a kicker to ASX shares that export high-end consumer discretionary products such as meat, seafood, dairy, fruit, alcoholic beverages and pharmaceuticals. While a growing number of ASX shares export to China, those with the greatest China exposure include winemaker Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), milk and infant formula companies A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M), and Synlait Milk Ltd (ASX: SM1) plus vitamins company Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL).

Foolish takeaway

Given the tensions with China on myriad levels right now, it's important to pick shares with strong exposure to this market carefully. So do your homework – look for shares with 30% or more exposure to China, within markets that appear to be outside the turmoil of any ongoing trade tariff tension, and that will benefit from the 'translation effect' when foreign earnings are domiciled back into Australian dollars.

The post Here's how to play China's V-shaped growth story appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Acronyms have been invented to group together emerging nations, the BRICs, Brazil, Russia, India and China and now the MINTs, Mexico, India, Nigeria and Turkey. These acronyms are not much more than marketing gimmicks to attract investors' attention, but that's not to say emerging-market investments cannot pay off.

For interested Australian investors it's almost impossible to invest relatively small amounts directly into equities listed on these countries stock exchanges. There are often regulatory and administrative hurdles too high for small investors to negotiate.

One easy way to gain exposure is through buying exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are listed on the ASX and possible to buy just like an ordinary equity. One of the biggest emerging-market ETFs is the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (ASX: IEM). Other iShares funds available on the ASX include the iShares MSCI BRIC ETF (ASX: IBK) and iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ASX: IZZ).

The iShares Emerging Markets ETF aims to track the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which is designed to measure emerging-market equity performance on a very broad basis. The ETF's underlying holdings consist of investments in leading Chinese, South Korean, Taiwanese, Brazilian, South African, Indian, Russian and Mexican companies, among others, totalling investments in 21 emerging nations.

Some of the more well-known companies include Korea's finest, Samsung Electronics Co and Hyundai Motor Company.  There's also Russian energy-giant Gazprom OAO and Chinese technology-titan China Mobile Ltd. You don't need to be an investment genius to see that companies held are primarily operating in mega-markets with large and young populations enjoying rising disposable incomes. In total, the ETF has an interest in more than 800 different companies across the emerging-market universe.

Under the ETF's prospectus distributions are not guaranteed, but it does have a consistent track record of paying out income earned two or three times a year. The estimated trailing yield over the last 12-month period is 2.15%.

The ETF is priced and distributions made in U.S dollars. Therefore investors who think the tapering of the U.S Federal Reserve's bond-buying program will support the greenback's appreciation over the Australian dollar would do well to invest now, to take advantage of a lower Aussie dollar when exchanging back in the future.

Indeed, commentators have opined that the Fed's tapering has encouraged investors to bring money back from emerging markets to its U.S source; in order to avoid the downstream risks of increased emerging-market volatility, particularly around currency devaluations. This is what contributed to the recent heavy falls across emerging markets, with the ETF's price falling about 10% from its November pre-taper high of $46.42.

Given the potential for capital gains alongside income and a significant exchange rate profit the investment case may seem seductive.

Risks and costs are significant though, both tangible and intangible. Tangible costs include management fees and expenses of 0.67% per year as a direct overhead, in addition to any effective spread applied every time you sell or buy into the fund. A typical buy-sell spread for an investment fund may add 0.30% to your purchase price and deduct 0.30% from your redeemed proceeds.

The management fee of 0.67% is relatively low when compared to investing in an actively managed emerging-market fund offered by a typical fund manager, where costs can easily be triple that. You'll also have to pay your standard one-off brokerage fee, just like buying an equity.

Other risks of emerging-market investing are many and plain for all to see, they include political and economic volatility, dubious corporate governance practices, runaway inflation and crashing currencies wreaking economic Armageddon. Nations currently exhibiting symptoms of these risks include Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Argentina, among others.

Foolish takeaway

Every investor must decide whether they are prepared to take on these risks, and no serious (or sane) investor would allocate more than a very small proportion of their available capital to emerging markets, even with the diversified benefits of an index-tracking ETF such as those offered by iShares.

The post Is now the time to profit from emerging-market falls? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.