“The European countries are still dealing with a financial crisis that seems to boil over every few weeks without much warning. It is a difficult place to invest because of so much uncertainty. Emerging markets seem to be doing better both in terms of growth and attractive prices of their securities. Asia, even though China’s growth is slowing a bit, seems to be doing the best among emerging economies. India, in particular, seems to have the right ingredients to perform like China has; if only their government would get out of the way. While waiting for that to happen, the growth has still been good if fitful.
“The Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund (IIF) is currently trading at $16.10, but holds $18.22 worth of securities in its portfolio. This equates to a discount to its Net Asset Value (NAV) of -11.64%. Its 52-week average discount is -8.13%. We last recommended this fund in February of 2012 at a price of $15.97 when its discount was -9.00%. Since then, India has cut interest rates to help spur the economy, even though this may ignite inflation. The fund does not pay dividends, but makes semi-annual distributions of capital gains. The fund does not use leverage and has an expense ratio of 1.33%. It invests 21.84% of assets in Commercial Banks, 10.67% in Information Technology, 8.92% in Automobiles and 8.79% in Pharmaceuticals.”
- Jack Colombo, Forbes/ISA Closed End Fund & ETF Report, May 2012