76 ETFs For Foreign Stock Exposure

Photo by: foxspain

Many people are looking for various ways to invest in foreign companies.  Whether they’ve lost faith in American companies, want to hedge or simply want  some diversity, ETFs can be an easy answer to eachieve this.  I’ve listed 76 ETFs that provide you exposure to the stocks of certain countries, groups of countries or the world as a whole.  Some things to remember:

• Many countries are highly dependent on a particular sector. For example if you’re buying a Russian ETF in many ways you are buying a lot of exposure to energy as that country is highly dependent on energy income.
• Many of these funds have run up tremendously in the previous few months.
• Some of these funds are not particularly liquid.
• Many of these funds have high fees associated with them.
• Each of these funds implements their exposure in different ways, be sure to read the prospectus.
• This list is far from exhaustive, although it was exhausting to compile.

My summary of all this is:  Read the Prospectus, Read the Prospectus, Read the Prospectus.  Make sure you know what you’re actually buying if you buy one of these ETFs.  I’m not recommending or endorsing any of them, I’m just compiling some resources to help you start your research.

Single Country ETFs

If you’re looking to roughly match the results of another single country here are some ETFs for some specific countries.  Bear in mind that these don’t all necessarily track just the country’s most popular stock market index.  They can track other indexes or even subsets of those companies and may balance them in a variety of ways so be sure you understand exactly what they invest in before you buy the ETF.  Many of these funds are limited by market capitalization as well as particular country, once again be sure to read the prospectus.

• Austria – EWO
• Australia – EWA
• Belgium – EWK
• Brazil – EWZ, BRF
  
• Canada – EWC
• China – FXI,PGJ, HAO and GXC
• Chile – ECH
• France – EWQ
• Germany – EWG
  
• India – EPI, PIN
• Indonesia – IDX
• Israel – EIS
• Italy – EWI
• Japan – EWJ, PJO, SCJ
  
• Malaysia – EWM
  
• Mexico – EWW
• Netherlands – EWN
• Russia – RSX
• Singapore – EWS
• South Africa – EZA
• South Korea – EWY
• Spain – EWP
• Sweden – EWD
• Switzerland – EWL
• Taiwan – EWT
• Thailand – THD
  
• Turkey – TUR

Regions and Groups

These are not individual countries, but groups of them.

• Africa – AFK
• Asia – AIA, IFAS, AAXJ
• Europe – IFEU, EIV, DFE, PEF
  
• Gulf States – MES, GULF
  
• Latin America – ILF
• North America – IFNA
• United Kingdom – EWU

Emerging Markets

This list is for emerging market specific funds that are not purely regional.

• BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) – BKF, BIK, EEB, DEM
  
• General – GMM, EEM, PXH
  
• Small Cap – EWX, DGS

Global and Non-US Sectors

These are worldwide market sectors, or worldwide market sectors excluding the US.

• Consumer Discretionary – GXI, IPD
• Consumer Staples – KXI, IPS
• Energy – IXC, IPW
• Financials – IXG, IPF
  
• Healthcare – IXJ, IRY
  
• Industrials – EXI, IPN
• Materials – MXI, IRV
• Technology – IXN, IPK
• Utilities – JXI, IPU
• Telecommunications – IXP, IST

Feel free to suggest more and I will keep adding to this list.

2 Responses to “76 ETFs For Foreign Stock Exposure”

1. Oil ETF says:

   March 30, 2010 at 6:31 am

   My portfolio has really taken off simply by learning to trade Exchange Traded Funds. I have had some great success with some Oil ETF’s and Commodity ETF’s in the past, and now I am investing in several new funds that I believe are about to really take off. Learning to trade ETF Funds has had a huge impact on my portfolio, and right now I see some fantastic opportunities in the market. The only thing left to do now is to ‘exploit’ those opportunities…which I am doing as we speak.

2. ETF Funds says:

   April 6, 2010 at 7:44 am

   There is no shortage of vehicles by which to trade, and while I do own individual stocks, the success I have had with ETF’s over the last few years, even during the recent stock market meltdown, has made investing in ETF Funds a key strategy in my trading/investing arsenal. My results speak for themselves!