India's Hot Economy Attracts Buffett, Soros

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- WisdomTree India Earnings Fund(EPI) has been a leading emerging market ETF this year and some big name investors are starting to move assets into the country.

Representing the "I" in the popular BRIC acronym, India has been one of the most popular destinations for investors looking for access to hot emerging markets. Year to date, it is beating the ETFs covering other BRIC nations, as well as iShares Emerging Market(EEM).

Now, popular names in finance are showing growing interest in the nation's markets.

This week, a number of news sources reported that hedge fund legend George Soros is considering purchasing a stake in Asia's oldest stock exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange. According to the report, the 4% chunk of the exchange Soros Fund Management is interested in acquiring is currently held by Dubai Holding and is estimated to be worth $40 billion.

Soros is not the first, nor the only famous, Wall Street name to warm up to India's markets. Prior to the news regarding George Soros' plans, the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, had also shown interest in the Asian nation's promising economy.

In late June, the investor hinted at his first foray into India, announcing plans to open a Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.A) subsidiary designed to sell auto insurance. In looking at the initial report, the business proposed appears similar to Berkshire's GEICO division.

Retail investors looking to follow their favorite financiers into the increasingly popular Indian market can do so through a number of India-focused ETFs. Barring leveraged products such as Direxion Daily India Bull 2X Shares(INDL) and debt products such as iPath MSCI India Index ETN(INP), the two most popular options for India bulls include the WisdomTree India Earnings Fund(EPI) and the PowerShares India Portfolio(PIN).

The elder of these two funds, EPI, tracks the WisdomTree India Earnings Index. This index is comprised of 127 India-based companies weighted according to their respective fiscal earnings.

As a result of this indexing strategy, top holdings Reliance Industries, Infosys Technology(INFY) and Oil & Natural Gas Corp, represent more than a quarter of the fund's total portfolio. The seven other firms listed among EPI's top 10 positions together account for an additional 18% of the fund's assets.