The SPDR S&P Russia ETF (RBL) began trading on Thursday, becoming just the second U.S.-listed ETF offering exposure to one of the world’s largest countries and most unique economies. RBL will seek to track the performance of the S&P Russia Capped BMI Index, a float adjusted market cap-weighted benchmark consisting of publicly-traded companies domiciled in Russia.

Russia’s Economy

Russia’s commodity-intensive economy was battered during the recent downturn as demand for raw materials and energy resources plummeted. Since bottoming out, however, Russian equities have delivered huge returns, thanks in large part to a surge in demand for materials from China, Brazil, and other emerging markets (see the Top Ten Performing ETFs Since The Market Bottom).

Russian equities have outperformed the S&P 500 by 3% in the last month, so the timing of a new ETF from State Street aimed at the Russian economy seems especially good.

SPDR S&P Russia (RBL), which competes directly with the popular Market Vectors Russia (RSX). State Street noted that it created this ETF to give investors the chance to fine-tune their BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) exposure.

By Patrick Watson

Thursday (3/11/2010) was the first day of trading for SPDR S&P Russia ETF (RBL). The fund follows the S&P Russia Capped BMI Index, which seeks to reflect the performance of investable stocks domiciled in Russia.