Four of these six international ETFs are buys

Article Excerpt

We think foreign stocks can safely make up 10% of a conservative investor’s portfolio. One way is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus. The best of those ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Here’s a look at four international ETFs we see as suitable for new buying and two others we feel you should continue to hold. ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ETF $42.74 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is designed to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: China, 30.8%; South Korea, 13.8%; Taiwan, 10.8%; India, 8.5%; Brazil, 7.8%; South Africa, 6.4%; Russia, 3.8%; Mexico, 2.8%; Thailand, 2.4%; Indonesia, 2.3%; Malaysia, 2.3%; and Poland, 1.2%. Its top stocks are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 4.8%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 4.0%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.7%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.5%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 1.9%; China Construction Bank, 1.6%; China Mobile, 1.2%;…