How to Invest in China Without the Geopolitical Risk

A fund manager discusses his new “America First” China ETF.

Why launch a China ETF when many U.S. investors want nothing to do with China? In this episode of Talk ETFs, Ben Harburg, portfolio manager of the newly launched CoreValues Alpha Greater China Growth ETF (CGRO), explains how now is the opportune time to launch and invest in this "America first" China ETF.  

Investing in China has been rough. Government regulation, slowing growth and a real estate crisis have combined to push the prices of most China exchange-traded funds to multi-month or multiyear lows.  

Worsening relations between China and its largest trading partner, the United States, have only added to the dour mood surrounding China ETFs. 

That’s the environment in which CoreValues Alpha decided to launch a China ETF last month. But why?  

“We believe that the negative U.S.-China noise is at its highest [level]… [and that] we’re getting in at bottoms [for China stocks],” Harburg told etf.com senior analyst Sumit Roy. 

Additionally, Harburg noted that CGRO isn’t your typical China ETF. It invests in the country through an “America first” lens. 

What that means is that it looks at whether the companies in the portfolio “contravene American national security interests, American values—like censorship or human rights—and even contravene America’s technological and economic leadership.”  

It’s an interesting twist on China investing and one that investors may want to consider if they’re bullish on China but worried about geopolitics. 

Ben Harburg is managing partner at MSA Capital, a global investment firm with over $2 billion in assets under management. Mr. Harburg also leads MSA Novo, the emerging markets focused franchise of MSA. Ben has significant investment and operations experience in Greater China and various emerging markets.