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Wall Street has been extremely volatile this year. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has added to the market gyrations. Russia continues to attack Ukraine while economic sanctions are being imposed on it by the United States, European Union, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Canada.
Investors willing to sail through the current market turbulences from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict-related concerns can consider iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV), Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF (SPLV), iShares MSCI Global Min Vol Factor ETF (ACWV) and Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD).
According to the latest updates, representatives for Ukraine and Russia have given the nod for peace talks on the Ukraine-Belarus border “with no preconditions,” per Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his country’s nuclear deterrence forces to remain on high alert on Feb 27. Apart from putting economic sanctions, countries have been extending their support to Ukraine by closing their airspace to Russian aircraft.
Global markets remained volatile over the uncertainty surrounding the war. Wall Street also witnessed huge market gyrations as the markets surprisingly closed in the green on Feb 24 and Feb 25. Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the last week in red, it showed good gains in the last two trading days of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are standing just outside the correction territory. Strong underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy along with investors considering the geopolitical tensions to be short term, might have been the driving factors of the recent market rally.
Going on, investors will also be closely following Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this week to find any indication regarding a rate hike in March to control hot inflation levels. The Fed’s primary inflation measure, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, also increased 5.2% year over year (per the Commerce Department data). The metric surpassed the Dow Jones estimate of a 5.1% rise.
Low-Volatility ETFs to the Rescue
Low-volatility products could be intriguing choices for those who want to continue investing in equities in turbulent market conditions. Consider the following exciting options:
iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF USMV
iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF offers exposure to 172 U.S. stocks with lower volatility characteristics than the broader U.S. equity market by tracking the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index. With AUM of $26.55 billion, iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF charges 0.15% in expense ratio (read: 5 Low-Volatility ETFs to Bet on Rising Worries).