International ETFs: 4 buys and 2 holds

Article Excerpt

We think conservative investors could hold up to 10% of their portfolios in foreign stocks. One way to do that is to buy carefully chosen exchange traded funds (ETFs) that have an overseas focus. The best ETFs offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Here a look at six global ETFs: ISHARES MSCI JAPAN INDEX FUND $11.08 (New York Exchange symbol EWJ; buy or sell through brokers; us.ishares.com) is an ETF that tries to match the return of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Japan index. The fund’s top holdings include Toyota, 5.8%; Softbank Corp., 2.8%; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, 2.7%; Honda Motor, 2.2%; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, 1.9%; Mizuho Financial Group, 1.7%; Japan Tobacco, 1.4%; Hitachi, 1.4%; Takeda Pharmaceutical, 1.4%; and Canon, 1.4%. The fund’s industry breakdown includes: Consumer Discretionary, 20.8%; Industrials, 19.6%; Financials, 19.5%; Information Technology, 10.9%; Consumer Staples, 6.6%; Health Care, 6.4%; Telecommunication Services, 5.7%; Materials, 5.6%; Utilities, 2.5%; and Energy, 1.2%. iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was launched on…