Give your ISA a Brazilian - invest in Brazil's booming BRIC economy!

Looking for some investment opportunities for your Individual Savings Account (ISA)?

Interested in emerging markets?

Brazil is worth a look. Not only is it one of the four major emerging BRIC economies, it is winning praise from many economist for the way that its economy is being managed. The Brazil of today is a long way from the mis-management of the 1980s when many investors and banks got their fingers burnt by their South American investments.

Brazil has an increasingly diverse economy and an emerging middle class eager to improve their standards of living. Brazil's economy is however heavily dependent on the agriculture and natural resources sector. Petrobras in particular is a very large oil and energy resource company. The emerging middle class are however helping companies to thrive in other sectors such as finance and mobile telecommunications. Brazil is a major exporter and has an increasing number of technology companies.

In comparison to other BRIC nations, Brazil has a young population. Its economy is also much more diverse than the energy and natural resource dependent Russian economy. The Brazilian government is much more open than is China's, and there is much less of a demographic timebomb.

There are a number of unit trusts that specialise in the so-called BRIC economics - Brazil, Russia, India and China. These include the Allianz Global Investors RCM BRIC Stars fund and Schroder ISF BRIC.

To invest in Brazil alone there is the JPMorgan Brazil Alpha Plus unit trust. This unit trust has around 50 holdings, with a broad exposure to the different sectors of the Brazilian economy. Industrial Metals and Mining are the largest sectors represented in the fund, although there is also exposure to the oil & gas industry, banking sector, food industry and general retailing.

As far as ETFs with a Brazilian theme go, there is the iShares FTSE BRIC 50 (London Stock Exchange stock symbol: BRIC) which invests in the 50 largest companies within the BRIC group of nations. The iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: EWZ). This ETF aims to track the MSCI Brazil Index. As might be expected, this ETF has a big weighting in the Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.

New for 2010 is a specialised niche ETF that invests in stocks within the Brazilian infrastructure theme - this is the EGS INDXX Brazil Infrastructure ETF.

For experienced stock traders, there is also an ETF that allows the MCSI Brazil Index to be shorted - this ETF is the ProShares UltraShort MSCI Brazil Index Fund.

• Brazil is the largest country in South America.
• The official language is Portuguese.
• Brazil has a democratic government, with a presidential system.
• Brazil's population is estimated to be around 192 million.
• Brazil's economy is the largest in South America.

The author of this article is not authorised to give financial advice. This article does not consitute financial advice. Before making investment decisions consult an independent financial advisor.