It would be nice to have Morgan Stanley's database of country specific index data to determine the valuations of individual national markets. Since my net worth is considerably shy of the billion or so dollars requisite for getting my phone calls answered, this data is not easily avaialble. A good proxy would be the valuation data for the WEBS index funds, but they're not available either.

An even less desirable method involves looking at the valuation data, available from Morningstar, of the single country and regional closed end funds. It's not perfect, but it's all we have. Where 3 or 4 funds are avaialble for a country -- say Germany or Korea, a pretty good idea of the P/E, P/B, and P/C of a country can be obtained. Warning: because of space limitations, I've not listed the fund premiums/discounts. This is a critical piece of data for each of the funds. For exapmle, the Indonesian and Thai funds are fairly cheap by some criteria, but the funds themselves are selling at very large premia. Check Barrons or the WSJ for these. One more caveat. None of these countries can even spell GAAP, so comparing parameters between countries needs to be done carefully.

That said, I've tabulated the 30 cheapest funds as of 12/31/97 by P/B, P/C, and P/E, in the below three tables. Happy hunting. If anybody knows how I can obtain the MSCI data, let me know.

Funds Arranged by P/B Ratio

	Std		Price/
	Dev	P/E	Cash	P/B	Med Mkt	Turnover	Exp	Income
Fund Name	3 Yr	Ratio	Flow	Ratio	Cap $MM	Ratio	Ratio	Ratio
Korea Fund	22.66	15.5	3.1	0.9	506	13	1.63	0.46
Korean Investment	20.67	9.1	3.5	0.5	481	32	2.11	-0.73
Korea Equity	20.6	12	3.8	0.5	153	53	1.89	-0.73
Fidelity Advisor Korea	22.08	13.1	4.1	0.7	402	51	1.88	-0.64
Portugal Fund	15.36	25.3	4.6	2.9	2124	36	1.62	0.75
Brazilian Equity	29.57	-	5.5	0.8	528	69	1.86	-0.62
Germany Fund	18.78	33.3	6	3.8	20622	55	1.26	0.56
Turkish Investment	58.48	36.6	6.8	11.4	1725	60	2.07	3.23
Pakistan Investment	27.77	15.8	7.7	4.9	536	15	2.2	-0.36
Scudder Spain and Portugal	19.88	21.2	7.7	2.7	1826	66	1.92	0.83
Growth Fund of Spain	19.73	23.9	7.9	2.7	7358	45	1.25	2.46
Emerging Germany	15.87	24.7	8.2	3.2	20622	40	1.51	0.76
Brazil Fund	30.39	10	8.3	1	415	9	1.6	2.22
Central European Equity	18.77	25.7	8.4	3.6	20622	-	-	-
First Australia	16.03	21.3	8.5	2.1	3622	133	1.41	1.86
Italy Fund	23.18	24.6	8.6	3.2	2450	58	1.42	1.12
United Kingdom Fund	9.51	17.8	8.6	3.6	4608	21	1.55	3.45
New Germany	12.71	27.1	9	3.9	2743	109	1.01	0.58
Chile Fund	18.38	16	9.1	4.8	2207	5	1.48	1.79
Japan Equity	16.6	27.9	9.1	1.3	2058	34	0.9	-0.04
Thai Fund	19.81	7.1	9.4	1.2	1160	24	1.43	1.42
Spain Fund	19.84	26.2	9.7	3.7	11623	44	1.73	0.93
Austria Fund	13.79	19.1	9.8	2	1468	19	1.71	0.07
France Growth	17.78	27.1	10	3.2	13491	83	1.54	0.84
Swiss Helvetia	18.55	29	10.8	3.9	28329	19	1.22	0.25
Czech Republic Fund	17.01	25.5	11	2	268	42	2.09	-0.51
Argentina Fund	26.79	18.9	11.1	2.1	6027	19	1.9	2.11
Mexico Fund	46.04	21.8	11.2	3.1	3672	10	1	2.93
Latin America Equity	21.82	20	11.8	2.5	3891	43	1.69	1.16
Morgan Stan India Invest	22.61	19	12.1	4.8	922	28	2.1	-0.85

	Std		Price/
	Dev	P/E	Cash	P/B	Med Mkt	Turnover	Exp	Income
Fund Name	3 Yr	Ratio	Flow	Ratio	Cap $MM	Ratio	Ratio	Ratio
Thai Fund	19.81	7.1	9.4	1.2	1160	24	1.43	1.42
Korean Investment	20.67	9.1	3.5	0.5	481	32	2.11	-0.73
Malaysia Fund	25.91	9.4	20.5	2.5	575	50	1.29	-0.18
Templeton Vietnam Opports	17.78	9.4	12.8	0.9	621	4	1.47	2.62
Brazil Fund	30.39	10	8.3	1	415	9	1.6	2.22
Templeton Dragon	23.59	10.4	13.4	1.2	6527	9	1.5	1.93
Templeton China World	24.66	10.9	12.8	1.1	2049	14	1.65	2.14
Korea Equity	20.6	12	3.8	0.5	153	53	1.89	-0.73
Indonesia Fund	31.67	12.2	15.2	2.7	412	35	1.91	0.1
Asia Pacific	20.96	13	15.9	1.8	6457	43	1.57	0.43
Fidelity Advisor Korea	22.08	13.1	4.1	0.7	402	51	1.88	-0.64
Singapore Fund	18.85	13.7	14.3	2.3	1478	63	1.85	-0.48
Jakarta Growth	29.68	13.9	14.2	2.6	2314	44	1.94	0.7
Fidelity Advisor Emerg Asia	20.5	15.4	17.1	2.9	5582	69	1.79	0.08
China Fund	25.97	15.5	20.8	2.4	1340	41	2.56	0.49
Korea Fund	22.66	15.5	3.1	0.9	506	13	1.63	0.46
Jardine Fleming China Region	25.24	15.7	16.2	2	1067	44	2.18	0.26
Pakistan Investment	27.77	15.8	7.7	4.9	536	15	2.2	-0.36
First Philippine	19.93	15.9	16.3	2.4	2156	15	1.75	-1.1
Chile Fund	18.38	16	9.1	4.8	2207	5	1.48	1.79
Latin American Discovery	37.57	16.5	16.1	3	5713	186	1.81	1.24
Thai Capital	18.75	16.9	12.3	1.8	696	33	2.22	0.15
Schroder Asian Growth	18.16	17.4	18.9	2.6	2899	35	1.57	-0.19
United Kingdom Fund	9.51	17.8	8.6	3.6	4608	21	1.55	3.45
Greater China	31.76	18.1	21.2	2.2	2201	37	2.07	0.65
Argentina Fund	26.79	18.9	11.1	2.1	6027	19	1.9	2.11
Morgan Stan India Invest	22.61	19	12.1	4.8	922	28	2.1	-0.85
Austria Fund	13.79	19.1	9.8	2	1468	19	1.71	0.07
Emerging Mexico	41.08	19.1	13	2.8	2876	71	1.64	0.6
Latin America Equity	21.82	20	11.8	2.5	3891	43	1.69	1.16

copyright (c) 1998, William J. Bernstein