With countries like Italy feeling the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Eurozone economy was bracing for the ensuing economic impact. The latest data shows that the Eurozone economy did, in fact, fall at a record rate.
“The eurozone economy shrank at the sharpest pace on record in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic forced countries into lockdown,” a BBC News report noted. “A first estimate of GDP between January and March showed a contraction of 3.8%, worse than during the financial crisis. Separate figures revealed a steep fall in economic activity in France and Spain over the same period. In Germany, unemployment has increased though it remains relatively low compared with other nations.”
In the meantime, here are a few Europe-focused ETFs to watch as the drama unfolds:
- Xtrackers Eurozone Equity ETF (EURZ): seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the NASDAQ Eurozone Large Mid Cap Index (the “underlying index”). The fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets (but typically far more) in component securities (including depositary receipts in respect of such securities) of the underlying index. The underlying index is designed to track the performance of equity securities of large- and mid-capitalization companies based in the countries in the Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU” or “Eurozone”) of the European Union (“EU”).
- Xtrackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity ETF (DBEU): seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI Europe US Dollar Hedged Index. The fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, of the underlying index, which is designed to track the performance of the developed markets in Europe, while mitigating exposure to fluctuations between the value of the U.S. dollar and the currencies of the countries included in the underlying index. It will invest at least 80% of its total assets in component securities of the underlying index.
- Xtrackers MSCI Eurozone Hedged Equity ETF (DBEZ): seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EMU IMI US Dollar Hedged Index. The fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, of the underlying index, which is designed to track the performance of equity securities based in the countries in the European Monetary Union, while seeking to mitigate exposure to fluctuations between the value of the U.S. dollar and the euro. It will invest at least 80% of its total assets in component securities of the underlying index.
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