The newswire reported that, as of March 15, the original ETF dedicated to Vietnam equities is beating the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by a margin of better than 3-to-1 this year. That index is the gauge, to which Vietnam is angling for a market classification promotion. The financial services sector, specifically brokerage firms, is one of the groups leading the way in Vietnam this year. That is good news for VNM investors, because that is the ETF’s largest sector exposure, at a weight of 27.63%. According to the newswire, there are few reasons Vietnamese banks and brokerage firms are rallying in the first quarter. One is that rising liquidity in the previously illiquid market. Another is expectations Vietnam will, at the very least, be promoted to emerging markets status by FTSE Russell at some point this year. The country is currently classified as a frontier market. Bloomberg said, the liquidity boost and retail trading boom have benefited the overall market as well, with the VN Index the best performer among benchmarks in Southeast Asia this year./.