More iShares International ETFs Could Debut

Earlier today, Benzinga reported iShares, the world's largest ETF sponsor, had filed plans with the Securities and Exchange for eight country-specific small-cap ETFs, six of which would compete with currently existing products. However, iShares has filed plans with the SEC for several more ETFs with offering international exposure. Notably, iShares could be encroaching on the territory of upstart ETF issuer Global X. iShares filed plans for the iShares MSCI Finland Capped Investable Market Index, which would be the first country-specific ETF tracking the Nordic country. The firm also filed plans for the iShares MSCI Norway Capped Investable Market Index Fund and the iShares MSCI Denmark Capped Investable Market Index Fund. There is also no Denmark-specific ETF currently trading and the only ETF offering significant exposure to either Denmark or Finland is the Global X FTSE Nordic Region ETF GXF. Those two countries account for over 33% of of GXF's weight. Global X was also the first ETF issuer to bring a Norway-specific ETF to market, the Global X Norway ETF NORW. Possible tickers and expense ratios were not disclosed in the iShares SEC filings. iShares also filed plans for the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets EMEA Index Fund, which track an index comprised of stocks from Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, Morocco, Poland, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. The ETF would likely be heavy on energy, financials and materials stocks. iShares is also planning the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Latin America Index Fund, which would hold stocks from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. That ETF would focus on energy, financial services and materials names. In the case of the Latin America ETF, it will be interesting to see how iShares makes that ETF noticeably different from the iShares S&P Latin America 40 Index Fund ILF, which also offers exposure to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru and devotes nearly 55% of its weight to the aforementioned sectors.