Topic: How To Invest

Q: I lack confidence in both the Canadian dollar and the American dollar; therefore, I am considering investing in Swiss stocks. What is your opinion of EWL—the iShares MSCI Switzerland Index ETF? Thank you in advance.

Article Excerpt

A: iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF, $39.99, symbol EWL on New York (Units outstanding: 38.8 million; Market cap: $1.6 billion; www.ishares.com/us), tracks an index composed of large and mid-sized Swiss equities. The ETF’s biggest holdings are: Nestle SA, Roche Holding, Novartis, Zurich Insurance, UBS Group, Lonza Group, ABB, Givaudan SA, Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA and Alcon AG. The $1.5 billion fund has a reasonable MER of 0.50%. As it has for most countries, the coronavirus has had a huge impact on the Swiss economy. The services sector has been particularly hard hit by measures to contain the virus. In response, the government has ramped up its fiscal response: it has doubled the size of its loan guarantee program, expanded its short-time work program, and extended wage subsidies. While the country’s wide measures will bring total spending to over 65 billion Swiss Francs (roughly 9% of GDP, equal to $67.6 billion U.S.), they will not be able to prevent an economic contraction. On April 16, 2020, the…