Even as global stocks slouched on Thursday, European equities are still outperforming U.S. stocks year-to-date.
European stocks closed slightly lower on Thursday on investor concerns regarding higher for longer interest rates. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks were up in morning trading but reversed course midday, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 each down over 1% in midday trading.
Investors looking to enhance their portfolios by adding exposure to European equities may consider the ALPS O’Shares Europe Quality Dividend ETF (OEUR), which is outperforming broad U.S. indexes year-to-date.
“Advisors have turned to European equities as an alternative to a home bias. High-quality European companies like those found in OEUR are more likely to hold up during market volatility,” Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, said.
OEUR is up 7.1% year-to-date through March 8, while the S&P 500 has increased 4.3% during the same period. Over a one-year period, OEUR has gained 8.4% compared to the S&P 500’s 2.7% drop, each on a total return basis.
OEUR is designed to offer investors efficient and transparent access to a portfolio of large-cap and mid-cap dividend-paying companies in Europe selected based on several fundamental metrics such as quality, low volatility, and dividend growth, according to SS&C ALPS Advisors.
OEUR has a focus on dividend quality to help avoid dividend cuts and suspensions and aims to provide strong performance with less risk, according to SS&C ALPS Advisors.
As of March 8, the fund offers the greatest exposure to companies domiciled in Switzerland (20.09%), France (19.49%), Germany (13.7%), the United Kingdom (13.51%), the Netherlands (10.91%), Sweden (7.35%), and Denmark (7.17%), according to ETF Database.
Launched in 2015, OEUR charged 48 basis points and has $39 million in assets under management.
Other ETFs that offer exposure to European stocks include the iShares Europe ETF (IEV), the Franklin FTSE Europe ETF (FLEE), and the SPDR Portfolio Europe ETF (SPEU).
For more news, information, and analysis, visit the ETF Building Blocks Channel.
