Related: Europe ETF Investors Refocus on Steady Growth
Still, some political risks remain to the European investment thesis.
“Economic growth dampens the urgency to reform, and differing views on which reforms are needed are too large to overcome,” according to BlackRock. “Italian elections in the spring are likely to cause political and financial turbulence along the way, and eventually produce a hung parliament. We see this limiting the scope for the reforms and fiscal adjustment that Italy needs to keep its large debt sustainable.”
Investors who believe the euro currency could weaken after its recent rally and are bullish on the Eurozone’s outlook can turn to currency-hedged ETF options, such as the the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EMU Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEZ), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: HEZU) and WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: HEDJ). These currency-hedged Europe ETFs may outperform non-hedged Europe funds if the euro depreciates against the U.S. dollar.
For more information on European markets, visit our Europe category.