Topic: How To Invest

Hello Pat: What do you think about the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF as a way to invest in Europe? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF, $50.29, symbol VGK on New York (Units outstanding: 218.2 million; Market cap: $11.0 billion; www.vanguard.com), holds stocks of companies located in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. The ETF has a low MER of 0.12%. It yields 1.8%. The top 10 holdings for Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF are all well-established companies: Nestle SA, HSBC Holdings plc, Roche Holding AG, Novartis AG, British American Tobacco plc, BP plc, Total SA, Siemens AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc and Royal Dutch Shell plc. The 2017 outlook for the EU economy is uncertain. One unknown is how rising “populist” politics in many European countries will affect their fragile recover and their big stimulus programs. Meanwhile, the world’s two most important central banks—the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank—continue to diverge in policy. The Fed expects to lift interest rates as many as three times in 2017. The ECB, on…