Europe equity and stock exchange traded fund investors should keep in mind currency risks, especially with diverging monetary policies from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank.
On the recent webcast, Seeking Growth in Europe with Currency Protection, Daniel Brehon, Forex Strategist at Deutsche Bank, points out that the U.S. dollar is beginning to form a broad uptrend after reversing its 2011 low and can continue to strengthen as the Fed tightens rates, especially as the economy improves.
On the other hand, the ECB is looking at lower rates and potentially enacting a quantitative easing program of its own to combat the stubbornly low inflation level and kick-start a faltering economy. Consequently, Brehon argues that traders should be short the euro.
“The case for more ECB easing is huge,” Brehon said.
Michael Jones, chairman and chief investment officer at RiverFront Investment Group, believes that that an ECB quantitative easing program could help promote an equity rally similar to what the Fed’s bond buying actions have done for the U.S. markets.
The more aggressive actions by the ECB has attracted investors’ attention. According to a recent survey, a number of financial advisors have looked into more European exposure this year.
