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Statoil's liquefied natural gas complex in the town of Hammerfest in northern NorwaySTAFF

If you've ever wanted to go to Norway, here's your big chance: The Global X FTSE Norway 30 exchange traded fund began trading on Wednesday, tracking Norwegian stocks in the form of the FTSE Norway 30 index. (Hat tip: Abnormal Returns)

From an investor's perspective, Norway is a fascinating place. With a population of less than five million, it has become the world's third-largest natural gas exporter and seventh-largest oil exporter. It has an exceptionally low unemployment rate and a portion of its considerable petroleum revenues are funnelled into a sovereign wealth fund - now called the Government Pension Fund, which has more than $520-billion (U.S.) in assets. Oh, and Norway has avoided adopting the euro.

If investors are worried about economic basket cases, then they should be drawn to success stories like Norway. But does Norway's economic success translate into stock market success?

We turned to the OBX index of 25 stocks to get a handle on what the ETF will likely track. Yes, energy stocks are a big component, but the top stocks in the index, based on their weightings, are actually nicely diversified.

Statoil ASA, an energy company, dominates with a 21 per cent weighting. But Telenor ASA, a telecommunications company, has a 12 per cent weighting. BnB NOR ASA, a bank, has an 11 per cent weighting. And Seadrill Ltd. (a drilling company) and Yara International ASA (a fertilizer company), both have 9 per cent weightings.

As for the index's past performance, things look pretty good. I translated relative returns into Canadian dollars to smooth out currency fluctuations. Over the past two years (to the end of October), Norway's OBX index has delivered a 67.3 per cent return after factoring in dividends. That wallops the 38.2 per cent gain by Canada's S&P/TSX composite index and the S&P 500's 8.5 per cent return.

The longer-term results are mixed. Over the past five years, Norway's index has lagged Canada's benchmark index by about half a percentage point (39.6 per cent for the OBX against 40.2 per cent for the S&P/TSX composite index). But it has still trounced the 6.2 per cent decline by the S&P 500.

Over the past 10 years, Norway's outperformance is clear. The OBX gained 116 per cent, nearly double the pace of the TSX's 64.8 per cent gain. Over the same period (and, again, in Canadian dollar terms), the S&P 500 has fallen 33.4 per cent.

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