I’ve been working on a "satellite" portfolio to complement my core holding (XEQT style). The goal is to gain targeted exposure to emerging and frontier markets that are either excluded or under-represented in broad market funds.
I am running this in a registered account (tax-free) to allow for monthly rebalancing without tax friction, which helps harvest volatility from these high-beta countries.
The Portfolio (100%):
DGS 14% WisdomTree EM SC Dividend
EPOL 12% iShares Poland
VNM 12% VanEck Vietnam
EPU 10% iShares Peru
GREK 10% Global X Greece
EWW 8% iShares Mexico
ARGT 7% Global X Argentina
COLO 5% Global X Colombia
EZA 5% iShares South Africa
EIS 5% iShares Israel
KSA 4% iShares Saudi Arabia
BRF 4% VanEck Brazil Small Cap
KWT 4% iShares Kuwait
Full Watchlist / Universe by Region:
• EM Broad & Factor: AVEE, DGS, EMXC, EWX, EEMS.
• Asia: VNM, SMIN, GLIN, ASHR, THD, EIDO, EPHE, ASEA, EWY, EWH, EWJ, EWT.
• Europe & Frontier: EPOL, GREK, EIS, TUR, EWP, EWO, EWI, EWK, EWD, EWN, EWQ, EWG, EWL, EIRL, EDEN, EFNL, EWU.
• LATAM: ARGT, EPU, ECH, EWW, COLO, EWZ, BRF.
• Africa & Middle East: EZA, AFK, KSA, UAE, KWT, QAT.
• Developed Small Cap: AVDV, ISCF, DFJ.
Strategy Note: I’m aware that some developed markets are in the watchlist, but the core focus remains on undervalued or high-growth emerging regions. By rebalancing monthly, I plan to trim winners (like Argentina or Greece recently) and buy into laggards mechanically.
Curious to hear your thoughts on the country weights and if I'm missing any crucial "frontier" plays!
My "Home-Made" Satellite ETF for Emerging & Frontier Markets
byu/bizaromax ininvesting
Posted by bizaromax
2 Comments
I get where you’re coming from but isn’t this a hassle to manage and quite expensive with transaction & fund management fees?
I just use EMVL for emerging and BRFI for frontier.
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Value ETF (IRR 50% since Oct ’24)
Blackrock Frontiers Investment Trust (IRR 27% since Feb ’25)
I think that the closing last year of iShares Frontier and Select EM ETF (FM) is telling. That came after they jiggled the prospectus definition so they could include more stocks in ‘investible markets’. The companies which tend to be represented in Frontier markets are often underwhelming and far from growth candidates, so says investor opinion apparently.