July 28, 2025 02:46 AM seekingalpha.com Positive

SA Asks: What are the best foreign ETFs right now?

AIA ASHR CQQQ DAX DXJ EUFN EWG EWI EWJ EWQ EWU FGM FKU FLGB FXB FXI FXY GXC HEWJ IHDG ILF

[ETF - Exchange Traded Funds, financial advisor.]
Torsten Asmus

What are the best foreign ETFs right now for investors?

We asked Seeking Alpha analysts Retired Investor [https://seekingalpha.com/author/retired-investor] and Ricardo Fernandez [https://seekingalpha.com/author/ricardo-fernandez] for their picks.

Retired Investor [https://seekingalpha.com/author/retired-investor]: An important question USD investors should ask when considering a foreign ETF is whether to hedge away the currency risk.

While 2025 so far has run counter to recent history, my experience shows a good hedging strategy has provided better results for USD investors than not hedging your foreign assets. Picking ETFs that hedge successfully regardless of the direction of the USD provides the best hedging benefits.

Of course, employing a hedging strategy might cost the investor extra fees. Thankfully for investors, there are pairs of ETFs that invest in the same index of stocks, one hedged and one not, where investors can measure the results of the hedging strategy. Two such pairs are WisdomTree International Hedged Quality Dividend Growth Fund ETF (NYSEARCA:IHDG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IHDG]) versus WisdomTree International Quality Dividend Growth Fund ETF (BATS:IQDG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IQDG]), which I covered, and iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:HEWJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HEWJ]) versus iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWJ]).

As with any strategy, none is always on top, so take a long-term perspective when deciding to hedge or not.

Ricardo Fernandez [https://seekingalpha.com/author/ricardo-fernandez]: Since the Great Recession (2008), the U.S. equity market has outperformed most others by a wide margin. The combination of near-zero rates, steady macro growth, exemplary technological innovation, and USD dominance has been hard to beat. However, the current U.S. geopolitical dysfunction, global trade war, and ballooning deficit lead me to believe that we have seen peak dollar and U.S. asset valuations. It's time to shift capital to the rest of the world.

I prefer iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (NASDAQ:EUFN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EUFN]) for financials in Europe, iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWJ]) for Japan's broad market, iShares Latin America 40 ETF (NYSEARCA:ILF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ILF]), iShares Asia 50 ETF (NASDAQ:AIA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AIA]) for Asia tech, and Range India Financials ETF (NYSEARCA:INDF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/INDF]). Financials are generally conservative and grow with the local economy. Japan has one of the most depreciated currencies, with significant tech exposure. Asia tech is deeply discounted compared to its U.S. peers, and Latin America offers a relatively cheap valuation and favorable currencies.

* Top Rated ETFs [https://seekingalpha.com/screeners/etfs/922b797269-Top-Rated-ETFs]

ETFs popular with SA readers: (FXI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXI]), (ASHR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ASHR]), (YINN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/YINN]), (EWG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWG]), (MCHI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MCHI]), (GXC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GXC]), (FGM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FGM]), (PGJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PGJ]), (KWEB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KWEB]), (EWQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWQ]), (CQQQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CQQQ]), (DAX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DAX]), (YANG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/YANG]), (EWI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWI]), (NYSEARCA:EWJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWJ]), (EWU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWU]), (FLGB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FLGB]), (FXY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXY]), (DXJ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DXJ]), (FKU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FKU]), (FXB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FXB]), (EWUS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EWUS]).

MORE ON ISHARES MSCI JAPAN ETF, ISHARES CURRENCY HEDGED MSCI JAPAN ETF, ETC.

* EWJ: Get The YEN [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4803761-ewj-etf-get-the-yen]
* EWJ: I'd Stay Away From Japanese Stocks Right Now [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4796565-msci-japan-id-stay-away-from-japanese-stocks-right-now]
* Equity Markets React To Trump's Tariff Announcements: The Data [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4786044-equity-markets-react-to-trumps-tariff-announcements-the-data]
* Asia stocks fall as markets brace for Trump tariff deadline, central bank meetings [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4471988-asia-stocks-fall-as-markets-brace-for-trump-tariff-deadline-central-bank-meetings]
* Asia-Pacific markets rally on US-EU trade deal optimism, Japan nears record highs [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4471154-asia-pacific-markets-rally-on-us-eu-trade-deal-optimism-japan-nears-record-highs]