India shining
The Indian economy is entering the limelight in the investing world due to positive recent developments. It is currently the fastest growing major economy in the world and for the financial year 2017, the IMF expects a 6.8% growth rate surpassing China’s forecast of 6.6%. Further, The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also expects India to outperform other emerging markets (EEM). It also expects GDP growth to remain above 7% in the coming years fueled by more structural reforms. Foreign investors are pouring in money into Indian stock markets backed by optimism on economic growth and structural reforms.
Since 2014, Prime Minister Modi has brought about a lot of economic and social reforms to promote infrastructure development, attract foreign investment and reduce corruption in the Indian economy. Further, implementation of the GST (goods and services tax) is also positive for the economy.
Year to date, the MSCI India Index has returned 17.1%, outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Asia Index. April has seen benchmark equity indices S&P BSE Sensex (BSE) and Nifty 50 (NSE) touching all-time highs.
Favorable economic policies and growth trends are likely to provide a solid boost to the Indian economy. Investors looking to play the Indian growth story could take a look at the following ETFs for exposure and outperformance in case India continues to outperform emerging market economies as expected.
In this series, we will look at the opportunities in India-focused ETFs and their performances. We will also analyze which stocks and sectors are favorable for investors and fund managers’ view on them.
