etf
An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is an investment fund that holds a collection of underlying assets, such as stocks or bonds, in a single pooled vehicle. ETFs allow investors to purchase a variety of different securities at once, providing greater diversification compared to owning individual assets. They are traded on stock exchanges like regular stocks, allowing for intraday trading at market prices. ETFs typically have lower fees than mutual funds and often passively track an index or sector, making them a popular choice for investors seeking a cost-effective way to invest in a diversified portfolio.
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ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $12.04 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.
The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.
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The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.
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BMO Equal Weight U.S. Health Care Hedged to CAD Index ETF, $30.38, symbol ZUH on Toronto (Units outstanding: 2.1 million; Market cap: $63.4 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds 48 U.S. health care stocks. The fund’s top holdings are Forest Laboratories, 3.0%; Illumina Inc., 2.6%; Actavis plc, 2.5%; Perrigo Company plc, 2.5%; Allergan, 2.4%; HCA Holding, 2.4%; Bristol-Myers Squibb, 2.4%; Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2.4%; St. Jude Medical, 2.3%; and Biogen Idec, 2.3%. The ETF is hedged against movements of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar. Its value rises and falls solely with the stocks in its portfolio, so it wouldn’t give you any diversification through U.S. dollar exposure....
BMO Low Volatility Canadian Equity ETF, $20.48, symbol ZLB on Toronto (Units outstanding: 7.9 million; Market cap: $161.8 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), aims to invest in a portfolio of low-beta Canadian stocks. The ETF selects the 40 lowest-beta stocks from the 100 largest, most liquid securities in Canada. The underlying portfolio is rebalanced in June and reconstituted in December. Beta is a commonly used measure of volatility. To calculate a stock’s beta, an index like the S&P/TSX Composite Index is assigned a beta of 1.0. The historical volatility of different stocks relative to the index is then measured using either a 36-month or 60-month regression analysis....
We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus.
The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of highquality stocks.
Here are six international ETFs we like:
ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $12.04 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.
The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.
iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was launched on March 12, 1996....
The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of highquality stocks.
Here are six international ETFs we like:
ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $12.04 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an exchange traded fund that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index.
The ETF’s top holdings include Toyota, 6.1%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 3.1%; Softbank Corp., 3.0%; Honda Motor, 2.5%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 2.4%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.8%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.3%; Canon, 1.3%; and Mitsubishi Estate Co., 1.3%.
The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 21.5%; Consumer Discretionary, 20.9%; Industrials, 19.3%; Information Technology, 10.4%; Consumer Staples, 6.3%; Health Care, 6.0%; Materials, 5.9%; Telecommunication Services, 5.8%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%.
iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was launched on March 12, 1996....
ISHARES AUSTRALIA INDEX FUND $24.15 (New York symbol EWA; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that holds the 71 largest Australian stocks. Its MER is 0.51%.
The fund’s top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 11.4%; BHP Billiton, 10.9%; Westpac Banking Corp., 9.0%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 8.0%; National Australia Bank, 7.4%; Wesfarmers, 3.9%; Woolworths, 3.8%; CSL Ltd., 3.0%; Rio Tinto, 2.7%; Woodside Petroleum, 2.3%; Telstra Group, 2.1%, Westfield Group, 1.9%; and Macquarie Group, 1.4%.
Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems....
The fund’s top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 11.4%; BHP Billiton, 10.9%; Westpac Banking Corp., 9.0%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 8.0%; National Australia Bank, 7.4%; Wesfarmers, 3.9%; Woolworths, 3.8%; CSL Ltd., 3.0%; Rio Tinto, 2.7%; Woodside Petroleum, 2.3%; Telstra Group, 2.1%, Westfield Group, 1.9%; and Macquarie Group, 1.4%.
Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems....
iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index Fund ETF, $24.56, symbol CDZ on Toronto (Units outstanding: 37.6 million; Market cap: $923.5 million; ca.ishares.com), seeks to replicate the performance of the S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index. The ETF’s MER is 0.66%, and it yields 3.2%. The S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index only includes stocks or trusts that have increased their dividends every year for five years—although it has changed that to include stocks or trusts that have maintained the same dividend for a maximum of two consecutive years within that five-year period. That means the index excludes a number of sound companies that pay dividends but haven’t increased them every year, such as three of Canada’s big-five bank stocks. The ETF’s top 10 holdings are AGF Management, 4.3%; AG Growth International, 3.7%; Bird Construction, 3.5%; Reitmans (Canada), 3.1%; Exchange Income Corp., 3.1%; Northern Property REIT, 2.9%; Enbridge Income Fund Holdings, 2.9%; IGM Financial, 2.5%; Laurentian Bank of Canada, 2.4%; and Emera Inc., 2.4%....
POWERSHARES QQQ ETF $85.49 (Nasdaq symbol QQQQ; buy or sell through brokers; www.invescopowershares- .com), formerly called Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares, holds stocks that represent the Nasdaq 100 Index, which consists of the 100 largest shares on the Nasdaq exchange, based on market cap.
The Nasdaq 100 Index contains shares of companies in a number of major industries, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain financial companies. The fund’s expenses are about 0.20% of its assets.
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SPDR DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ETF $158.76 (New York symbol DIA; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The fund’s top holdings are Visa, IBM, The Goldman Sachs Group, ExxonMobil, Chevron, 3M, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, United Technologies and Boeing. The fund’s expenses are about 0.17% of its assets.
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SPDR S&P 500 ETF $179.73 (New York symbol SPY; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) holds the stocks in the S&P 500 Index, which consists of 500 major U.S. companies that are chosen based on their market cap, liquidity and industry group.
The index’s highest-weighted stocks are Apple, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, IBM, Chevron, General Electric, Pfizer, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, AT&T and Wells Fargo. The fund’s expenses are just 0.10% of its assets.
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