Global / International Exchange Traded Funds
InvestorsFriend's one-stop Global
/ International ETF
reference Site provides:
- Selected International Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and trading symbols
- Fundamental data for each selected
International ETF (P/E ratio and dividend
yield)
- Links to updated P/E ratio, dividend and other info
for
each International ETF
- Links to Yahoo Finance for
International ETF for an updated price and news items
- Two U.S. corporate Bond
Exchange Traded Funds are included
- The Management Expense Ratio (MER) of each selected
International ETF.
This article provides a list of selected Global
/ International Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). It
also provides the available fundaments (P/E ratio and dividend yield, and price to book
value ratio) and the Management
Expense Ratio (MER) of each ETF. The intention is to provide a broad list of ETFs
covering major countries. This list is not intended to cover various
industry segments but rather to cover counties.
We provide the latest available P/E and dividend yields as of
January 3, 2010. And we also
provide links so that you can check the latest P/E, dividend yield and Canadian ETF
prices. Therefore this Global / International Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) reference article can be used at any date,
not just near the date it was last updated.
See also our analysis of Canadian
ETFs and Market segments.
Further Information on
interpreting our ETF table is provided below.
|
The Following ETFs Trade in the U.S.
Most of these
subject investors to currency risk between their country and
the currency in the country of the index. Canadian investors should
note that some of the distributions will be withheld as U.S. tax.
Be aware that
the net asset value of the underlying entities can differ from the price of
the ETF. This can be checked under the links to ishares.com in the first
column below.
We have very little to no knowledge of the economic outlook
in these various countries or areas or the political or the currency risks.
Any comments here are
simply based on the P/E ratio, yield and price to book ratio.
Note that Yahoo seems to
consistently report lower trailing P/E ratios than ishares. We don't know
why that is. Both appear to use some form of adjusted earnings (omitting
unusual gains and losses). To be conservative it is best to assume the
higher (less attractive) P/E is more correct. In fact both may be too low. |
| Country Index Click the links for
ishares.com info. |
Trailing P/E
( appears to use normalized earnings) |
Dividend Yield % |
Price to Book ratio (from ishares.com) |
ETF |
Comment |
|
Europe,
Australia and Far East EFF
|
ishares
23.7 Yahoo says 14.8 |
Yahoo says 2.69%
Globe investor says
3.2% |
2.67
|
EFA
$55.28 (MER 0.35%)
Canadians can buy
XIN $17.91 on Toronto, hedged in Canadian dollars (MER
0.49%) |
Gives broad exposure to Europe, Australia
and the Far East.
Appears unattractive |
| U.S. S&P 500
ETF
|
ishares 23.1 Yahoo 16.6
S&P
GAPP 23.5 S&P Operating 20.2 |
Yahoo 2.0%
S&P 2.1%
|
3.5
|
IVV
$111.88 (MER 0.09%)
Canadians can buy XSP
$12.88 on
Toronto, hedged in Canadian dollars (MER 0.24%) May have
different yield. 2
times bull (MER 0.95%)
SSO
$38.24 2 times bear
(MER 0.91%)
SDS
$35.05
1 times bear (MER 0.95%)
SH
$52.56 |
500 of the largest U.S. companies. GAAP Earnings are
abnormally low at this time which makes interpreting the P/E very difficult. ishares
and Yahoo use some kind of adjusted earnings
Appears to be unattractive Double
leverage funds cannot be expected to perform at double the underlying index
except over a single day. Double leverage funds lose money in if the
market bumps up and down with no trend. |
|
Dow
Jones Industrial Average |
Dow 16.6 |
Dow 2.64% |
2.78 |
DIA
$104.07 (MER 0.18%) |
Appears to be neutral in attractiveness |
|
Global 100
ETF |
ishares 22.4 Yahoo 14.2 |
Yahoo 3.1% |
3.1 |
IOO
$60.25 (MER 0.40%) |
Appears unattractive |
| Europe
350 ETF |
ishares 22.5
Yahoo 14.2 |
Yahoo 2.77% |
2.97 |
IEV
$38.96 (MER 0.60%) |
Appears unattractive. |
| China 25 Index
ETF |
ishares 24.8 Yahoo 16.4 |
Yahoo 1.23% |
3.06 |
FXI
$42.26 (MER 0.74%) |
With only 25 companies it
is dominated by a few companies and therefore is more volatile.
Seems unattractive although may be reasonable if high China growth is
considered. |
| Japan
ETF
|
ishares 28.3 Yahoo 16.4 |
Yahoo 1.29% |
1.34 |
EWJ
$9.97 (MER 0.54%) |
Appears unattractive |
| United Kingdom
ETF |
ishares 25.2
Yahoo 13.0 |
Yahoo 3.54% |
3.31 |
EWU
$16.20 (MER 0.54%) |
Appears unattractive |
| Australia
ETF |
ishares 23.1 Yahoo 17.4 |
Yahoo 4.01% |
3.14 |
EWA
$22.84 (MER 0.51%) |
Appears unattractive |
| Hong Kong
ETF |
ishares 25.8 Yahoo 18.0 |
Yahoo 3.44% |
3.67 |
EWH
$15.66 (MER 0.52%) |
Appears unattractive |
|
Brazil
ETF |
ishares 25.3
Yahoo 17.0 |
Yahoo 2.61% |
3.74 |
EWZ
$74.61 (MER 0.68%) |
Appears unattractive |
| BRIC Countries
ETF |
ishares 22.23 Yahoo 17.7 |
Yahoo 1.21% |
3.81 |
BKF
$45.85 (MER 0.75%) |
Appears unattractive |
|
Italy ETF |
ishares 19.2
Yahoo 12.8 |
Yahoo 3.28% |
1.42 |
EWI
$19.51 (MER 0.54%) |
Appears unattractive |
|
South Korea
ETF |
ishares 18.2 Yahoo 12.3 |
Yahoo 0.88% |
1.97 |
EWY
$47.64 (MER 0.68%) |
Appears unattractive |
|
20+
Year U.S. Treasury |
4.59% yield to maturity |
|
|
TLT
$89.89 |
No Credit risk. (Very) long term investors
could hold for the coupon although in that case you should directly buy a
treasury bond, not the fund. This ETF can be used to speculate on U.S.
interest rates. It will fall in price if long-term interest rates rise and
rise in price if interest rates fall. |
|
Ultra-short
7-10-year Treasury |
|
|
|
PST
$53.94
HTD
(Toronto)
$15.50 |
Use this to speculate that U.S. long-term
interest rates will rise. Canadian Investors may prefer this one
which trades on Toronto and is bought as a bet that U.S. long-term interest
rates will rise. The currency risk is hedged away.
|
|
U.S.
Investment-Grade corporate Bond fund ETF |
Distribution Yield 5.34% Yield
to maturity 4.99% |
|
|
LQD
$104.15 (MER 0.15%) |
Appears unattractive The weighted average maturity is just over 12
years. This fund will fall in price if long-term interest rates rise. Also
it exposes investors to credit risk but is rated investment grade at BBB+. |
|
U.S.
high yield corporate bond fund ETF |
Distribution Yield 8.75% Yield
to maturity 8.72% (assumes no defaults) |
|
|
HYG
$87.84 (MER 0.50%) |
Appears unattractive given interest rate and
credit risk The weighted average maturity is about 5.5
years. This fund will fall in price if mid-term interest rates rise. Also it
exposes investors to considerable credit risk. S&P rates this higher risk at
only B- (well below investment grade, this is speculative) The indicated yield
will not likely
be realized due to credit risks. |
The above table is an excellent
reference particularly for Canadian investors interesting in gaining global
stock and bond exposure through ETFs. You can bookmark this page or
join our free newsletter list to be notified
of updates.
For many more international
Exchange Traded Funds see www.ishares.com
and www.proshares.com
With this P/E ratio and yield information, investors can make a
better judgment as to the desirability
of various Country ETFs and we also provide the trading symbol under which each can be
purchased. (Or sold short for that matter).
While it can be very difficult to interpret whether a particular P/E ratio is
attractive or not, it is useful to be aware of these ratios. In some cases
the P/E ratios may not be the raw trailing P/Es but may be massaged to remove
extraordinary items. ishares has told us they "massage" the P/E for the S&P 500
index and they may do that for all of them.
Keep in mind that P/E ratios and
yields are based on the earnings and dividend information available at a point
in time. Ratios are always subject to
change as financial results change and as the ETF prices change.
Dividend yields for these
International ETFs may not be reliable in some cases. The reason is that the
distributions from ETF funds can be somewhat lumpy as to both timing and amounts
and these distributions may not track the dividends of the underlying companies
very closely at all.
If you click through to see the latest P/E and yields for these international
ETFs note that many of them are not updated daily but are based on a previous
month end. In that case the reported ratios need to be adjusted to reflect the
latest ETF price. Click on the price of the ETF to go to Yahoo and see the
latest price, you can then click on historical prices on Yahoo to see the price
on the month-end that the P/E was last updated. Then, for example, if the
international ETF price is up 10% then the P/E would be up 10% and the yield
down 10%.
In buying or selling any of these
International ETFs be cautious about the trading volume
and the bid/ask spread. Higher volume ETFs are preferred, all else being equal.
In buying any of these, be careful to double check the trading symbol with
other sources. I believe the symbols below are correct, but please double check.
A wrong symbol could lead to to the wrong investment.
Investors may wish to
consider the expected growth or contraction of the earnings that are driving the
P/E for a particular segment. High growth can justify a high P/E and low or
negative growth leads to lower P/E ratios. More recently, a global financial
crisis has first pushed P/E ratios down, and then pushed them up as earnings
evaporated and as the markets recovered.
Note that the charts of Global ETFs that trade in the U. S. are in effect
distorted by currency movements. The graph does not show just the movement of
the country index, but rather the country index in U.S. dollars.
END
Shawn Allen, CFA, CMA, MBA, P.Eng.
President, InvestorsFriend Inc.
January 3, 2010