iShares Blitz of Country ETFs Continues

iShares has registered nine additional country-specific exchange-traded funds with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The first batch was for: the iShares MSCI Poland Investable Market Index, iShares MSCI China Small-Cap Index, iShares MSCI Indonesia Investable Market Index and iShares MSCI New Zealand Investable Market Index funds.

The second filing covered: the iShares MSCI USA Index, iShares MSCI Brazil Small Cap Index, iShares MSCI Egypt Capped Investable Market Index, iShares MSCI Ireland Capped Investable Market Index, iShares MSCI Russia Capped Index and iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index funds.

The iShares funds will face competition; earlier this year, the Market Vectors Poland ETF launched, and there already are several ETFs covering small-cap stocks in China, including the Claymore/Alpha Share China Small Cap Fund, as well as the Market Vectors Indonesia ETF. Van Eck and Market Vectors also offer small-cap Brazil ETFs.

In addition, PowerShares and State Street have Ireland ETFs in registration; Van Eck and Global X are planning Egypt ETFs, and Global X is readying a Philippines ETF.