There is no BRICS ETF. Not one. Despite all the geopolitical noise about a new world order, a new reserve currency, a multipolar financial system — when you sit down to actually invest in this thesis, Wall Street hasn’t built you a convenient single ticker. You’re going to have to construct it yourself.
That’s actually fine. Because once you understand the building blocks, the DIY portfolio is cheaper, more precise, and more flexible than any bundled product would be. Here’s the full playbook for Singapore investors.
Let’s start with the macro picture, because it changed materially on January 1, 2024.
The original BRICS bloc — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — officially expanded. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Iran joined the bloc, effective from the start of 2024. The expanded group now represents approximately 45% of the world’s population and accounts for a growing share of global GDP when measured at purchasing power parity.
Russia is effectively frozen out of global financial markets due to post-2022 sanctions. That’s not going to change soon. But the addition of the Gulf states — UAE and Saudi Arabia — meaningfully shifts the BRICS+ economic weight toward energy, sovereign wealth, and Gulf capital flows. For investors, this matters: it means “BRICS exposure” now includes some of the world’s most liquid sovereign wealth markets.
The problem is that the ETF industry hasn’t caught up. No product currently tracks “BRICS+” as a defined index. You are, as of 2026, still building this position from parts.
EEM — iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF AUM: $25+ billion. Expense ratio: 0.68%. This is the oldest and most liquid EM ETF on the planet. Its country weights as of 2025: China ~27%, India ~20%, Brazil ~5%, South Africa ~3%, Russia: effectively 0% (removed post-sanctions). Taiwan (~18%) and South Korea (~12%) are significant weights — these are not BRICS countries but are included in the MSCI EM index definition.
EEM is the benchmark. It’s also the most expensive of the core EM options.
VWO — Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF AUM: $145+ billion. Expense ratio: 0.06%. Tracks the FTSE Emerging Markets Index rather than MSCI, which means slightly different country weights and crucially — it includes South Korea in some vintages but not others depending on FTSE’s classification. Similar China/India/Brazil weights to EEM. The cost difference is the headline: VWO at 0.08% vs EEM at 0.68% is an $300/year difference on a $50,000 position.
The math: $50,000 in VWO at 0.08% = $40/year in management fees. $50,000 in EEM at 0.68% = $340/year. The $300/year difference, compounded over 20 years at 8% returns, becomes approximately $14,800 in lost wealth. That’s a vacation. That’s a year of living expenses in Manila. Pay attention to expense ratios.
IEMG — iShares Core Emerging Markets ETF AUM: $135+ billion. Expense ratio: 0.09%. This is iShares’ lower-cost answer to EEM — same house, cheaper product. Tracks MSCI EM IMI (Investable Market Index), which includes small-caps that EEM excludes. Broader exposure, minimal cost premium over VWO.
If you want pure-play exposure to individual BRICS+ countries rather than the blended EM index:
5-year performance is illustrative based on historical MSCI data and is not a guaranteed return.
Here’s how a Singapore investor could build a synthetic BRICS+ portfolio using available ETFs:
Option A: Simple (2-ETF) - 60% VWO (core EM exposure, low cost) - 40% INDA (India overweight, given BRICS+ growth narrative)
Option B: Balanced (4-ETF) - 40% IEMG (broad EM core) - 25% INDA (India tilt) - 20% GXC or equivalent China ETF - 15% KSA (Saudi Arabia / Gulf tilt for BRICS+ expansion exposure)
Option C: Tactical (6-ETF, active) - 30% VWO (EM core, lowest cost) - 20% INDA - 15% GXC - 15% KSA - 10% EWZ (Brazil commodity play) - 10% EZA (South Africa frontier)
The right answer depends on your conviction level by country. Option A is the set-and-forget. Option C is the geopolitically-informed portfolio for investors who follow EM macro closely.
StashAway includes emerging markets in its global portfolio allocation through its proprietary ERAA (Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation) framework. You don’t choose individual ETFs — StashAway determines EM weight based on macro regime signals. The trade-off: you get professional allocation logic and automatic rebalancing, but you don’t get to say “I want 25% India and 15% Saudi.”
For most retail investors with under $50,000 to allocate, the StashAway managed route removes complexity and still delivers reasonable EM exposure. For investors with $100,000+ who are serious about the BRICS thesis, building the portfolio yourself via Tiger gives you precision and lower fees.
Step 1: Open Tiger Brokers account online. Singapore residents use NRIC/FIN. KYC typically processes in 1–2 business days.
Step 2: Fund the account. SGD bank transfer via FAST is fastest. Tiger supports DBS, OCBC, UOB, Standard Chartered.
Step 3: Convert SGD to USD in the Tiger FX module. Check the spread — Tiger’s mid-market FX rate is generally competitive for retail conversions.
Step 4: Search ticker — VWO, EEM, IEMG, or individual country ETFs (INDA, GXC, KSA, EWZ).
Step 5: Buy. Limit orders recommended for ETFs with wider spreads (GXC, smaller country ETFs). Market orders fine for VWO and IEMG given their liquidity.
Step 6: Set a rebalancing calendar. EM ETFs drift — your BRICS+ allocation in month 1 will look different in month 12 as China, India, and Brazil move at different rates. Annual rebalancing maintains your intended exposure.
Here is the argument you need to wrestle with before putting money in: emerging markets ETFs have underperformed the S&P 500 for over a decade.
From 2011 to 2022, EEM returned approximately 1–2% annualised. The S&P 500 returned 12–15% annualised over the same period. If you had put your money in SPY instead of EEM for any 10-year window ending before 2023, you would be significantly wealthier.
The EM bulls have three responses. First: past underperformance was concentrated in China’s regulatory crackdown (2021) and Russia’s effective zeroing (2022) — both extraordinary one-time events. Second: valuation multiples for EM are 30–40% cheaper than US equities right now, which historically predicts better forward returns. Third: the dollar’s structural trajectory is uncertain, and a weaker USD typically lifts EM returns.
These are reasonable arguments. But you should also hold the uncomfortable truth: BRICS+ is a political construct, not an investment thesis. The BRICS countries don’t have coordinated monetary policy, shared regulatory frameworks, or an integrated capital market. “BRICS exposure” is really “EM ex-developed-Asia exposure with a geopolitical narrative layered on top.”
Invest in the underlying economies. Don’t invest in the political brand.
Currency drag is also real. Singapore dollar investors buying USD-denominated ETFs pick up USD/SGD exposure. In periods of SGD strength, EM equity gains in local currency terms can be partially or fully erased by USD/SGD moves. This isn’t a reason not to invest — it’s a reason to understand what you’re holding.
The structural case for BRICS+ exposure from Singapore is about portfolio diversification away from US equity concentration, not about betting on geopolitical upheaval.
Most Singapore retail portfolios are 50–70% Singapore/US equities. The rest of the world — which includes 80% of the world’s population and the fastest-growing economies — represents an underweight. Correcting that underweight with a 15–25% EM allocation is basic portfolio construction, not geopolitical speculation.
The Singapore tax environment makes this particularly attractive. No capital gains tax means the compounding happens in full. SRS eligibility through Endowus means you can fund the allocation with pre-tax dollars. Low-cost platforms (Tiger for self-directed, StashAway for managed) have removed the infrastructure barriers.
The BRICS narrative is window dressing. The underlying portfolio logic is sound.
One of the most underrated aspects of a self-built BRICS+ portfolio is the rebalancing discipline. EM country ETFs diverge substantially over 6–12 month windows. India and China do not move together — in fact, they’ve often moved in opposite directions since 2021, when China’s regulatory crackdown crushed Chinese tech while Indian equities rallied.
Without a rebalancing schedule, your “25% India / 25% China / 25% Brazil / 25% Gulf” construction can become “45% India / 10% China / 30% Brazil / 15% Gulf” without you touching anything. That’s no longer the allocation you wanted. It’s an India-heavy, China-underweight portfolio — which may or may not reflect your current thesis.
The practical protocol:
Set a rebalancing trigger — either calendar-based (every 6 months) or drift-based (rebalance when any country weight drifts more than 10 percentage points from target). Calendar-based is simpler and avoids overtrading. Drift-based is more precise but requires active monitoring.
On Tiger Brokers, you can track portfolio allocation by position. Download a position snapshot every quarter and compare it against your target weights. The rebalancing trades — selling overweight positions, buying underweight ones — generate tax events only if you’re in a jurisdiction with capital gains tax. Singapore residents face zero CGT on these rebalancing trades. The clean tax environment makes active portfolio maintenance genuinely cost-free.
For StashAway users: the rebalancing is automatic. The platform’s ERAA framework adjusts EM weights continuously without user intervention or tax friction (since gains in StashAway’s managed accounts aren’t realised until withdrawal).
The lesson: a static BRICS+ ETF portfolio is not a passive investment. It’s an active portfolio that requires periodic correction. Build the maintenance habit into your calendar, or choose a managed platform that does it for you.
Two platforms for two different investor types:
Tiger Brokers — Self-directed ETF access for VWO, EEM, IEMG, INDA, GXC, KSA, EWZ, and every other building block in the BRICS+ construction. Competitive FX rates, US market access, and a clean trading interface. If you want to build the portfolio yourself — with full control over country weights — this is your execution platform.
StashAway — Set-and-forget managed EM exposure through a professionally constructed portfolio. StashAway’s ERAA framework dynamically adjusts EM allocation based on macro regime signals — you don’t have to time the market yourself. Minimum investment is low, and automated rebalancing keeps the portfolio on track. Ideal for investors who believe in the BRICS+ thesis but don’t want to manage individual ETF positions.
The optimal setup: Tiger for your self-directed BRICS+ core, StashAway for the managed satellite position. Different philosophies, complementary outcomes.
Affiliate disclosure: Links above may generate a commission at no cost to you. We only recommend platforms we’ve assessed for this market.
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