iShares MSCI Netherlands Index Fund(ETF) (EWN)

The Dutch economy is staging a recovery, backed by an economic growth of 3% in 2006 that is very likely to spill over to 2007. Although the economy is no super power, the country is home to a clutch of multinationals in fields as diverse as financial services and consumer durables. As the fortunes of these companies are tied not only to the domestic economy, they can effectively buffer against the economic volatilities.





This explains why the fund ishares MSCI Netherlands Index Fund manage to post an impressive return of 32% in 2006, when the Dutch economy was on the path of recovery. The fund had 31% of its assets managed invested in multinationals like ING group, Unilever etc. Although there are around 27 different stocks in the fund, sector-wise it is biased towards financial services and consumer durables with each cornering 41% share.





The year 2007 picks up from where it was left in 2006, with private consumption and corporate investment expecting a spike. It spells good news for the economy as they form the cornerstone for the financial services and consumer durable sector.





Unemployment will decrease by 5.5% in 2007, there by increasing the disposable income and directly effecting the private consumption. This will lead to better consumer spending in prolific areas like consumer durables. This trend was observed in 2006 and is likely to continue. Taxation rate will be decreased further, which will help to post strong corporate profit.





Business investment increased by 4.3% in 2006 and the same is expected to touch 5% in 2007 on the back of improved private consumption. This investment climate with low levels of inflation and interest rate sounds good for banks, which forms a major part of the fund. ING group which forms 18% of the total asset in the fund, the largest single contributor has seen a 6.8% increase in profit and expects a 7-8% growth in 2007. All these factors together make the fund a healthy investment proposition for 2007