Some recent retrenchment by biotechnology stocks not withstanding, health care stocks and exchange traded funds remain some of this year’s top performers and that sentiment extends to global funds.
Bullishness for the health care sector has not been confined to the U.S. International health care stocks and global ETFs tracking the sector have been getting in on the fun as well. The iShares Global Healthcare ETF (NYSEArca: IXJ) is up more than 12% year-to-date.
IXJ allocates over 64% of its weight to U.S. stocks with Switzerland checking in at 11.3%. On a more positive note, due in part to the market’s heavy bias towards health care stocks, Switzerland is one of Europe’s most dependable dividend growth markets, explaining why it often commands valuation premiums relative to higher beta Eurozone nations. [Investors Like Switzerland ETFs]
There is an important difference between ETFs that carry the “global” label and those that are true international funds. That difference is to be remembered with IXJ because global allows for the inclusion of U.S. stocks, which in the case of IXJ has been a positive. [Health Care Heaven With ETFs]