FYI: To help shed light on the topic of ETFs, I consulted Janelle Nelson, active investor, and finance professional of 33 years. Nelson recently retired after a 23-year role as portfolio analyst with the U.S.-based wealth management firm of the Royal Bank of Canada.
She recommends always looking at the liquidity of the underlying securities and making sure they can easily be traded. “Sometimes one underlying stock comprises 30% or 40% of an ETF. It might make more sense to buy the stock outright.” Nelson said.
An exchange-traded fund is often a good choice if you're trying to gain exposure to specific regions or countries, that may not be easily accessible for individual investors. Samsung, for example, doesn't trade easily on major U.S. Exchanges but you could buy a South Korea ETF for country exposure; Samsung comprises just over 22% of the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSE: EWY).
Regards,
Ted
