Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, the iShares MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EIS) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at iShares MSCI Israel and see what CAPS investors are saying about the ETF right now.
iShares MSCI Israel facts
| Inception | March 2008 |
| Total Assets | $75.5 million |
| Investment Approach | Seeks to replicate the MSCI Israel Capped Investable Market Index, which measures the performance of Israeli equity market and caps all component companies' weights at 24%. |
| Expense Ratio | 0.61% |
| 3-Month / 1-Year / 3-Year Returns | (0.5%) / (31.3%) / 14.6% |
| Top Holdings with High CAPS Rating (4 or 5 Stars) and Portfolio Weight |
Teva Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: TEVA) (23.5%) Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL) (2.1%) Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR) (1.8%) |
| Alternatives |
SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (NYSE: GAF) Market Vectors Gulf States Index (NYSE: MES) |
Sources: Morningstar and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, all 27 members who have rated iShares MSCI Israel believe the ETF will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Montserrat25 and jwebbzor.
Having gotten on board a couple of years ago, Montserrat25 tapped Israel as a particularly potent place to invest:
Wish I could change time frame on this call to 'forever'. I love the country, companies and the people. ... A bright future remains for Israel after this global recession.
iShares MSCI Israel, in particular, sports a juicy trailing dividend yield of 4.2%. That's higher than that of other Middle East ETFs like SPDR S&P Emerging Middle East & Africa (2.3%) and Market Vectors Gulf States (1.1%).
CAPS member jwebbzor expands on the tailwinds working in the ETF's favor:
We are moving into the next stage of the information/computing age. Israel with its strong concentration on R&D and high tech industry, will fare well. Wars? Bah, there will always be wars.
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Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the new TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.
