Most equities investors have picked out their favorite U.S. companies and sectors, but this U.S.-centric theme leaves out a large portion of the world economy. Alternatively, investors can utilize exchange traded funds that provide regional and country-specific exposure to gain exposure to global growth.
“The global expansion is seen ramping up as 2014 progresses, with growth forecast to reach 3 percent by the fourth quarter, up from 2.6 percent in the first quarter,” according to S&P Capital IQ.
Investors can take a look at broad stock ETFs that cover global growth, such as the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSEArca: VT), which tracks 5178 companies from around the world. VT is up 19.5% year-to-date.
In Europe, the European Central Bank has enacted a more aggressive monetary policy to help support the Eurozone after the financial debt crisis, lowering benchmark rates to 0.25%, reports John Wasik for Reuters.
Some have also argued that European stocks are undervalued compared to the U.S. since the Eurozone is just exiting a recession, whereas the U.S. has been on the path to recovery for a while.
For broad Europe exposure, investors can look at something like the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK), which tracks stocks from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. [Europe ETFs Look to Keep Rolling]