When building a diversified investment portfolio, it is important to look beyond U.S. markets and consider the benefits of incorporating foreign equity ETF exposures.
“It is an ongoing educational process. A lot of investors are overbought U.S., and we are concerned about a pullback,” Abby Woodham, ETF Strategist for DWS, told ETF Trends in a call.
Many investors have become reliant on U.S. equity market exposure as the U.S. stocks have dominated performances over the years. However, as the bull market conditions extend, U.S. equities are starting to look pricey relative to foreign markets. Consequently, Deutsche Bank has recently downgraded its position on U.S. equities to “underweight.”
“The benefits are already priced in,” Woodham said.
Alternatively, Woodham said Deutsche Bank is more optimistic or overweight value and growth excluding the United States, pointing to opportunities in emerging markets, Japan and Germany.
To access Japanese markets, investors may consider something like the Deutsche X-trackers Japan JPX-Nikkei 400 Equity ETF (NYSEArca: JPN), which recently lowered its annual fee to 0.09% from 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive Japan ETFs on the market.