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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.
The European economy is steadily improving, supported by a wide range of indicators, which may lead to above average growth for the remainder of the year and into the next. Eurozone growth has accelerated, with growth and business indicators showing positive results.
“The global economic expansion is finally filtering through to the bottom lines of companies in Japan, Europe and EM,” according to BlackRock. “A bout of euro and yen strength earlier this year raised some doubts about corporate performance, yet ended up doing little to dent improving profitability. Japanese companies increased earnings by 17% in the latest quarter—the best year-on-year increase of any major developed market.”
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