etf

ISHARES MSCI SOUTH KOREA INDEX FUND $46.06 (New York Exchange symbol EWY; buy or sell through brokers), is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Korea Index. The index aims to capture 85% of the total market capitalization of the South Korean stock market. The other 15% is unavailable for investment, partly due to limitations on foreign ownership. The fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics at 18.0%; Posco (steel), 7.4%; KB Financial Group, 4.3%; Shinhan Financial, 4.2%; Hyundai Motor Co., 3.8%; LG Electronics, 2.4%; Hyundai Mobis (Hyundai auto parts and service), 2.3%; Samsung Electronics preferred shares, 2.2%; LG Chemical, 2.2%; and Korea Electric Power, 2.0%. The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Information Technology, 28.1%; Financials, 18.3%; Industrials, 14.7%; Materials, 13.3%; Consumer Discretionary, 12.0%; Consumer Staples, 5.1%; Telecommunication Services, 3.3%; Energy, 2.4%; Utilities, 2.2%; and Health Care, 0.6%....

ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $41.85 (New York Exchange symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers), is an ETF that aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown includes: Brazil, 14.8%; South Korea, 12.4%; China, 11.2%; Taiwan, 10.4%; South Africa, 8.1%: Hong Kong, 6.8%; Russia, 6.3%; India, 6.0%; Mexico, 4.6%; and Israel, 3.3%. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund’s top holdings are Samsung Electronics, 3.9%; Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan: computer chips), 2.7%; Petrobras (Brazil: energy), 2.6%; Banco Itau Holding Finance (Brazil: banking), 2.5%; Posco (steel), 2.2%; China Mobile (China: wireless), 1.9%; Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 1.8%; KB Financial Group Inc. (South Korea: banking), 1.8%; and Banco Brandesco (Brazil: banking), 1.7%....

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hold baskets of stocks that represent stock indexes. They trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Unlike many other innovations, including many mutual funds, ETFs don’t load you up with high management fees, or tie you down with heavy redemption charges if you decide to take your money out. Instead, they give you a low-cost and more flexible and convenient alternative. ETFs also have advantages over closed-end mutual funds. They are more liquid than most closed-end funds, and have lower management fees. Moreover, ETFs consistently trade at or very close to net asset value, unlike closed-end funds, which often go through wide swings in their discounts or premiums to the value of their assets....

iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund, $46.35, symbol FXI on New York (Shares outstanding: 218.6 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion), is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to track the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index. This index is made up of the 25 largest and most liquid Chinese stocks. All of the securities in the index trade on the Hong Kong exchange. As well, some trade as ADRs on the New York exchange. The fund’s top holdings are China Mobile, 9.3%; China Construction Bank, 9.1%; China Life Insurance, 8.4%; Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, 7.3%; Bank of China, 6.1%; China Merchants Bank, 4.4%; China Shenhua Energy Co., 4.2%; Ping An Insurance Group, 4.2%, CNOOC Ltd., 4.0% and PetroChina, 4.0%. The fund’s industry breakdown is as follows: Financials, 47.0%; Telecommunications, 16.7%; Basic Materials, 12.2%; Oil and Gas, 11.8%; Industrials, 9.3%; Utilities, 1.9%; and Consumer Services, 1.1%....

If you need steady income and want to hold bond funds, we advise you to focus on those with short-term maturity dates (see below for more on bond funds). That’s because bonds with shorter terms face a lower risk from interest-rate increases. You should also avoid funds that take part in any kind of speculative trading.

This bond ETF offers high quality at low cost

The iShares Canadian Short Bond Index Fund (symbol XSB on Toronto) is a bond exchange-traded fund (ETF) that’s a long-time recommendation of our Canadian Wealth Advisor newsletter. The fund cuts risk by avoiding speculative trading and emphasizing government bonds.

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Financial institutions that create and/or sell ETFs have done a superb job of shaping the terms of reference surrounding these investments. Every new ETF that comes on the market spurs lengthy discussions about the undeniable advantages of low-MER ETFs, compared to high-MER conventional mutual funds. This, though, is beside the point. It makes far more sense to compare low-MER ETFs to low-MER index funds. Focusing on ETFs or index funds can save you one or two percentage points a year, compared to investing in conventional mutual funds with yearly MERs in the 2.0% to 2.5% range. But these cost cuts do nothing to protect you against what I’d call the three deadliest and three most common investor mistakes:...

While ETFs won’t protect you from the three costliest mistakes an investor can make, they may have a worthwhile place in your portfolio. Unlike many other innovations, ETFs don’t load you up with heavy management fees, or tie you down with heavy redemption charges if you decide to get out of them. Instead, they give you a lower-cost and more flexible and convenient alternative to mutual funds. ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks. Prices are quoted in newspaper stock tables and online. You’ll have to pay brokerage commissions to buy and sell them, but you will quickly make these back because of the low management fees....

Vanguard Information Technology ETF, $49.46, symbol VGT on New York (Shares outstanding: 14.9 million; Market cap: $737.7 million), aims to track the MSCI U.S. Investable Market Information Technology Index, which consists of stocks of mostly large U.S. companies in the IT area. The fund’s MER is just 0.25%. The index is made up of companies in these three general areas: 1) Software and services firms, including those that mainly develop software in various fields (such as the Internet, applications, systems, databases, management, and/or home entertainment). This area also covers companies that sell information-technology consulting and services, data processing and outsourced services;...

Because of today’s low interest rates, we generally advise against investing in bonds. This is especially so in light of the rise in inflation that may come from high levels of government spending and the expansion of the money supply. That rise in inflation will push up interest rates over time. This will hurt bonds, since their prices generally move in the opposite direction as interest rates. A: iShares Barclays TIPS Bond ETF, $103.04, symbol TIP on New York (Units outstanding: 161.6 million; Market cap: $16.7 billion), invests in the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) Index. There are 29 securities in the underlying index. The fund began trading on New York in December 2003 at $101.84 per unit....

VANGUARD GROWTH ETF $49.28 (New York symbol VUG; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI U.S. Prime Market Growth Index, a broadly diversified index that mainly consists of stocks of large U.S. companies. The fund has an MER of just 0.15%. The $14.0-billion fund’s top holdings are Microsoft, IBM, Apple Inc., Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart Stores, Google Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris International and PepsiCo. Vanguard Growth ETF is broken down by economic segment as follows: Information Technologies (34.2%), Health Care (15.5%), Consumer Staples (14.7%), Consumer Discretionary (11.9%), Industrials (7.9%), Energy (6.3%), Financials (4.7%), Materials (3.8%), Telecommunication Services (0.6%) and Utilities (0.4%)....