iShares S&P Asia 50 ETF (AIA)

Not sure if you can be in Asia without being in China. A lot of names have the growth coming from China or Hong Kong. AIA is a good name, with 50 of the largest names in that region, including China (34%) and Taiwan (31%).

For Japan, EWJ is one to use.

When investing in Asia, he just goes with the large caps and doesn't use any of the mid-cap names.

He owns KWEB for some of his clients. A higher beta, higher octane type of name. Longer term it makes a lot of sense since the penetration of the internet in China is much lower than NA. AIA is 50 largest names in Asia that has outside of China and includes other sectors like semiconductors and banks. AIA would be more conservative of the two.

(A Top Pick May 26/17 - Up 18%.) He still likes it. Some concerns lately with the US dollar moving higher and concerns about global trade. Trading 11 times forward earnings. Discount compared to US and European markets. Exposure to largest Asian ex-Japan names. Income is rising in that part of the world.

Prefers this to VA-H which has 58% exposure to Japan, whereas he prefers investing in China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore which are performing better. AIA excludes Japan.

This gives you a diversified exposure to 50 of the largest, most established Asian names in a single strategy. This is trading at under 12X PE on a forward basis, 1.5X Price to book. That is a discount to North America.