Switzerland exchange traded funds are holding up against other developed economies as volatility racks global markets.
By the time the closing bell rang Friday, the iShares MSCI Switzerland Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWL) sported a year-to-date gain of 2.7% while the First Trust Switzerland AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FSZ) showed 2014 gain of 3.2%. FSZ rose 1.6% Friday on volume that was more than quadruple the daily average. Meanwhile, the broader Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK), in which Switzerland is one of the largest country weights, is only slightly higher this year with the benefit of Friday’s 1.3% gain.
Switzerland tracks some of the largest multinational companies in the world, such as Nestle, Roche, Novartis (NYSE: NVS) and UBS (NYSE: UBS), which are also the four largest holdings in the iShares ETF, accounting for 49.4% of EWL’s overall portfolio.
Moreover, EWL overweights defensive sector stocks, with 29.8% in health care and 20.5% in consumer staples, compared to riskier energy and consumer discretionary names, which make up 1.5% and 6.8% of the fund, respectively.
“These companies tend to boast strong competitive advantages, lower debt/capital ratios, and better profitability than those in the broad MSCI Europe Index,” according to Morningstar analyst Alex Bryan. This quality tilt may help it better weather market downturns…. It’s not surprising that EWL gave investors a smoother ride than the MSCI Europe Index since its inception in 1996.”
Given the companies’ international footprint, Switzerland may also be consider a more global play. With the Euro strengthening against the Swiss franc, Switzerland could see increased export growth. [Amid Turmoil, the Allure of Safe-Haven Currency ETFs]
Alternatively, First Trust’s Switzerland ETF follows a factor-based indexing approach, which selects stocks based on book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets. Additionally, component weights are relatively spread out, with the largest holding Lonza Gruop at 4.5%.