Plus, Berkshire Hathaway Asset Manager sees possible bond bubble in Brazil

This column highlights the most interesting and useful business and financial commentary on emerging markets from around the Web.

Seeking Alpha

In his Jackson Hole speech last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not give financial markets the boost many Fed watchers were hoping for, but he did highlight the appeal of dividend-paying emerging market ETFs.

Bernanke reiterated that the central bank would maintain a low-interest-rate environment, and that decision makes dividend paying securities even more attractive. Beneficiaries of this sustained policy could include such emerging market ETFs as the WisdomTree Emerging Markets Equity Income Fund (DEM ), the WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund (DGS ), and the SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend Fund (EDIV ).

Tom Lydon, editor of ETF Trends. said that yield-hungry investors might look at investing in the junk bonds of emerging markets as jumping into the fire with a can of gasoline on their back, the new Market Vectors Emerging Markets High Yield Bond ETF (HYEM) can offer diversification, low costs and more safety than income investors might otherwise expect. With that in mind, he made it the ‘ETF of the Week’ on MoneyLife with Chuck Jaffe .

beyondbrics

This week, General Motors (GM ) began production of its Sail compact sedan and hatchback, the company’s first-ever Chinese-designed car, at a plant 100km from Mumbai. The car was designed by SAIC (600104.SS ), the Chinese company that is a 50:50 partner in GM’s India’s operations, and marks a big shift in GM’s approach to marketing cars for the Asian market.

Analysts said the Sail was unlikely to launch GM into the top-tier in India in terms of market share. But if the price is right, it could attract customers usually drawn to powerhouse manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki (MARUTI.NS ) and Hyundai (005380.KS ) when it goes on sale next month.

The Indian Express

Search engine major Google (GOOG ) today launched a Small and Medium Enterprises partner programme and said it plans to have 30 channel partners for selling digital advertising solutions to SMEs across 100 cities in India.

It is estimated that the SME advertising market in India is worth USD 1.2 billion, of which digital ads contribute USD 100 million.

Emerging Markets Daily

General Re-New England Asset Management, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A ), says yields in emerging markets like Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia could rise as ‘rapid’ credit growth raises consumer default risk.

Bloomberg notes that Brazil’s total bank lending has almost tripled to $1.1 trillion in July since the end of 2006, with the consumer default rate rising to 7.9%, the highest in almost three years, according to the central bank. But money managers we’ve talked to have said Brazilian banks’ consumer credit issues show signs of bottoming. Plus, Brazilian consumers are nowhere near as indebted as their US peers.

Bangkok Post

Cathay Pacific (0293.HK ) said Wednesday it would no longer carry unsustainably sourced shark products on its cargo flights, dealing a blow to Hong Kongs huge shark fin industry.

Hong Kong is one of the worlds biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make soup that is an expensive staple at Chinese banquets.

Major Hong Kong-based hotel chains Peninsula (0045.HK ) and Shangri-La (5517.KL ) have recently stopped serving shark fin at their up-market restaurants, amid signs that demand for the soup in Hong Kong is falling.