While most Americans either begin or end their August summer travel plans, many have had their plans take them abroad. Whether it’s Europe, South America, or even Asia, the desire to explore and visit new places in the summer is a strong one.
The same could be said for investors exploring for higher returns, and a big place for that are foreign markets. Chris Konstantinos, director of International Portfolio Management at RiverFront Group gives us his top international ETFs for investors looking to get in now.
Japan
For Konstantinos, Japan is a contrarian, deep value trade, which is a play on the recovery in the global economy and China’s economic stabilization. Japan is a volatile dark horse play with a lot of skeptics, he says, but also possesses the greatest potential upside over the next couple of years of any major market. Konstantinos notes the economic recovery there is stronger than many think and that the resolve of the Bank of Japan is stronger than many believe.
Konstantinos says the best ETFs for exposure to Japan are the WisdomTree Japan SmallCap Dividend ETF (DFJ) an WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity ETF (DXJ).
Norway
Konstantinos argues that as the world’s most stable petrostate, Norway is highly energy-levered and thus a good play on heightened geopolitics and potential oil shocks; in addition to it being a great a place to find strong dividend yields. He suggests buying the Global X MSCI Norway ETF (NORW).
Spain
Spain is Konstantinos’ favorite country in peripheral Europe. Spain’s appeal is its heavy weighting towards banks that make it a play on European Central Bank intervention, not to mention a domestic economic recovery. Konstantinos is playing Spain with the iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF (EWP).
The rest of Europe
As a bonus, Konstantinos advises buying the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity ETF (HEDJ) as a way to play Europe’s export sector without exposure to the Euro itself.
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