Gain global exposure with these six ETFs

Article Excerpt

We think foreign stocks can safely make up 10% of a conservative investor’s portfolio. One way is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with an overseas focus. The best of those ETFs continue to offer very low management fees and well-diversified, tax-efficient portfolios of high-quality stocks. Here’s a look at four international ETFs we see as suitable for new buying and two others we feel you should continue to hold. ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS ETF $43.60 (New York symbol EEM; buy or sell through brokers) is designed to track the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The fund’s geographic breakdown is as follows: China, 33.0%; South Korea, 12.9%; Taiwan, 11.5%; India, 9.0%; Brazil, 7.0%; South Africa, 6.2%; Russia, 3.8%; Mexico, 2.7%; Thailand, 2.3%; Indonesia, 2.1%; Malaysia, 2.1%; and Poland, 1.1%. Its top stocks are Tencent Holdings (China: Internet), 5.2%; Alibaba Group (China: e-commerce), 4.5%; Taiwan Semiconductor (computer chips), 3.8%; Samsung Electronics (South Korea), 3.5%; Naspers (South Africa: media and Internet), 2.1%; China Construction Bank, 1.6%; Ping An Insurance Group (China), 1.1%;…