Emerging markets offer key pluses

Article Excerpt

Over the last couple of years, many emerging-market ETFs are down more than the overall market. They have struggled to attract investors because the growing U.S. economy and sharply higher interest rates have pushed up the U.S. dollar. That typically results in capital flowing to the U.S. from emerging markets. Even so, emerging markets still offer portfolio diversification and the potential for above-average returns. As well, their stock market valuations appear cheap relative to developed markets. Here are two ETFs that provide investors with one-stop exposure to emerging markets. Note that we’ve excluded ETFs with Chinese stocks, which we think will be held back by a number of factors; that includes ongoing trade hostilities between the U.S. and China. Please see the supplement on page 69 for more information ISHARES EMERGING MARKETS EX CHINA ETF $51.74 (New York symbol EMXC; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $4.2 billion) tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets ex-China Index and invests mainly in large and medium-sized companies listed…