Global X CEO Bruno del Ama sees ARGT filling a "glaring hole in existing ETF offerings."

Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs have grown in popularity in recent years as small investors seek to diversify and capitalize on growth opportunities in emerging markets. Generally designed to track a specific index, ETFs offer investors a flexible, low-cost way to buy and sell an entire basket of securities with a single transaction throughout the trading day.

While there are more than ten Brazilian ETFs and over two dozen Chinese ETFs, there was never an Argentina ETF…until now. New York-based Global X Funds recently launched the Global X FTSE Argentina 20 ETF (Ticker: ARGT) which tracks the FTSE Argentina 20 Index, which represents the performance of the twenty largest and most liquid companies that directly participate in the Argentine economy, but are not listed in Argentina.

The sector breakdown of ARGT companies is weighted heavily and understandably toward Energy (33%) followed by Financials (21%), Technology (10%), Materials (10%) and Telecom (9.8%). The Top Five ARGT Holdings represent approximately 49% of the Fund’s Net Assets: 1.) Tenaris S.A. ADS (20%), 2.) MercadoLibre (11%), 3.) Banco Macro S.A. ADS (8%), 4.) YPF S.A. ADS (5%) and 5.) Nortel Inversora S.A. ADS (5%). Other familiar names in ARGT include Petrobras, Apache Corp., Cencosud and BBVA Banco Frances. (ARGT Fund Holdings)

In explaining the motivation behind the ARGT launch, Global X CEO Bruno del Ama described Argentina, the second largest economy in South America as “a glaring hole in existing ETF offerings.” In terms of upside, Global X says, “Nearly 19% of (Argentine) exports went to Brazil and over 9% went to China. As the second largest corn exporter and third largest soy exporter in the world, the fund may allow investors to benefit from increased food demand from Argentina in the emerging world.”

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