76 ETFs For Foreign Stock Exposure

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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. (more…)