"India, one of the hottest economies on the planet, holds tremendous profit potential," says Larry Edelson in Real Wealth. Here's a look at three funds set to "capitalize on India's boom."
"India's economy is growing at a 9% rate, ten times faster than the U.S. and only a couple of percentage points behind China. And the Indian economy is not merely outgrowing the U.S. by leaps and bounds; it's also at the very epicenter of the booming natural resource markets.
"India has the fastest-growing population in the world, expanding at the rate of some 16 million per year. At that rate, India's population will exceed 1.4 billion people and be larger than China's by 2030.
"What's more, per-capita income in India has risen steadily over the past five years, from $285 to around $550 today. That's still less than half China's per-capita income of $1,162, but incomes are growing faster in India, at plus 8% year in and year out.
"Government investment in the country's infrastructure is soaring. Over the next four years, by 2012, the government plans on spending a total of $500 billion to build out and improve India's infrastructure.
"Corporate earnings in India are growing at an astounding 35% annual rate. The 30 largest companies in the Mumbai Sensex index increased their earnings at an incredible 35% in their first quarter of this year.
"And private equity investors are now putting more money in India than in China. Nearly $20 billion in private equity poured into India in 2007, a 156% jump versus '06, and 34% more than went into China in '07.
"My view: India, like China, is one heck of an economy to bet on going forward. And I believe now is a great time to consider taking a stake. The timing couldn't be better considering that Indian stocks, like Chinese shares, pulled back earlier this year to what I consider bargain basement levels.
"Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund (NYSE: IIF) is a closed-end fund with an objective of long-term capital appreciation, with holdings from energy to agriculture, to mining, pharmaceuticals, telecom, and more. This is a no-load fund, and its overall fees run about 1.4% a year.
"India Fund (NYSE: IFN) , another closed-end fund that is diversified across various industry sectors, and that seeks long-term capital appreciation. Total fees about 1.64%.
"WisdomTree India Earnings Fund (NYSE: EPI) is a great new exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of 150 of India's top companies."
