IEFA holds over 2,500 stocks with over half the ETF’s combined geographic weight dedicated to Japan, the U.K. and France. Overall, 16 countries are represented in the ETF. Eleven of those countries are European nations.
Torrid Asset-Gathering in Emerging Markets
After being one of last year’s top asset-gathering ETFs, IEFA is continuing its torrid pace of asset adding this year. As of April 11th, investors had added about $14.8 billion in new capital to IEFA this year, more than double the amount that has flowed to second-best asset-gathering ETF, the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA: IEMG).
“For investors inclined to add during the current weakness, focus on non-U.S. equities, which are more reasonably valued,” said BlackRock. “Developed markets outside the U.S., as tracked by the MSCI ACWI-ex U.S. Index, is trading for roughly 15 times trailing earnings, the cheapest since late ’15. Right now with the U.S. being still the most expensive market and the epicenter of uncertainty, non-U.S. equities offer better value, and perhaps better protection.”
Related: ETF Liquidity is Sparking – Here’s Why…
IEFA devotes about 35% of its weight to financial services and industrial stocks. Consumer discretionary and consumer staples names combine for 23.3%. IEFA is up 0.56% year-to-date while the S&P is slightly lower.
For more information on the ETF market, visit our ETF performance reports category.