Additionally, with Donald Trump in office and the Federal Reserve looking to hike interest rates in response to solid growth and potential expansionary policies, the U.S. dollar will strengthen against foreign currencies. Consequently, investors who want international exposure will have to keep in mind currency risks ahead.
“When you analyze dollar strength, what I mean, for international currencies, you sort of have to look at the big international currencies,” Bush said. “If you’ve got dollar strength, we’re going to be forecasting weakness. In euro/dollar, you’re actually going to parity; dollar/yen to 120; with the pound, a little bit more weakness still to come – maybe going out to 118. Those are all forecasts of further depreciation from here.”
Consequently, investors may turn to currency-hedged international stock ETFs to gain exposure to the underlying markets while mitigating the foreign exchange risks, notably the negative effects of a depreciating foreign currency on an investor’s investment.
For example, investors can look to the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EMU Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEZ), Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Japan Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBJP) and Deutsche X-Trackers MSCI United Kingdom Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBUK).