Six top international ETFs: 4 buys, 2 holds

Article Excerpt

We think conservative investors can hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is by choosing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus. The best 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 buys, and two we feel you should continue to hold. ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX FUND $46.61 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) aims to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown includes China, 30.7%; South Korea, 15.7%; Taiwan, 11.5%; India, 8.4%; Brazil, 6.9%; South Africa, 6.6%; Russia, 3.3%; Mexico, 3.0%; Thailand, 2.2%; Indonesia, 2.2%; Malaysia, 2.2%; and Poland, 1.3%. Its top holdings are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 5.8%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea ), 4.7%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 4.0 %; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.7%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet ), 2.3%; China Construction Bank, 1.4%;…