February 25, 2008 at 2:00 pm by Tom Lydon
What comes to mind when you hear the iShares MSCI Belgium (EWK) exchange traded fund (ETF)?
It gives a lot of banking exposure - these days, that’s tantamount to a four-letter word. But if you can look beyond the turmoil of the credit crunch, EWK can look undervalued. While it has a slew of financial holdings that make up around 50% of the fund, Gary Gordon for ETF Expert says it’s undervalued by any fundamental valuation model.
Belgium also struggles as an importer of commodities - it’s resource-poor, and the commodity boom elsewhere might be taking a toll on the country.
However, Gordon says that it’s less volatile than many of its single-country ETF peers. While he steers clear of single-country funds and favors a more regional approach, these funds can be good for a disciplined investor who has a stop-loss plan. Belgium could be a fund for the investor who believes that the financials are primed and ready for a turnaround. This fund could be ready to benefit more than most, thanks to its heavy allocations in the sector.
Tags: Belgium, Europe, EWK, Financial
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February 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I get ETF Trends every day, and every day it is stopped as Vista or Norton consider it to be suspicious. This is the only e mail that this hapens to, of say about 20 I get every day from financial sites. I just thought I should tell you this anyway.Where can I , living in Ireland, get ETF’s at a reasonable cost as all brokers here are very greedy and remove the attraction of ETF’s by high fees?
Mike
Phone 087 2860003