“It is not hard to come up with reasons for the weakness in today’s report—sluggish foreign growth and a strong dollar are the obvious ones,” Feroli said in a note.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: EEM) and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: VWO) both provide exposure to the emerging markets. Additionally, for those who are wary about a currency risks, the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEArca: HEEM) and the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Emerging Markets Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBEM) track developing markets while hedging against depreciating foreign currencies.
After the sudden flash crash in the Swiss franc and surge in the U.S. dollar, 81% of institutional investors say they don’t hedge currency risk and 71% have no plans to hedge Forex risks ahead.
On the other hand, institutional investors were least bullish on real estate and fixed-income assets, with emerging market debt coming in at last.
For more information on the equities market, visit our S&P 500 category.
Max Chen contributed to this article. Tom Lydon’s clients own shares of EEM, SPY and QQQ.