Vangrd European E.T.F. (VGK)

Currency has the biggest impact on investment returns. This one is in US dollars and exposes you to the Euro. He thinks the Euro will go to parity over the next year. You should use ZEQ-T, or EUR-T with currency hedging to get exposure.

(A Top Pick Jan 31/14. Up 2.39%.) Europe, much like the US, was talking of quantitative easing and it looked like they were starting to recover. It seemed to be a good place to get in. Decided to put no more than 5% in. When Putin started to do his shenanigans, he held back on buying.

(A Top Pick Jan 16/14. Down 6.99%.) This was actually an OK call, but he hadn’t accounted for the euro falling like a stone, and this was not currency hedged. He actually prefers and is buying Wisdomtree International Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ-N), and thinks Europe goes higher with quantitative easing.

(A Top Pick Dec 13/13. Down 0.18%.) Sold his holdings that had European connections, because of Putin. Also, it seems to him that the euro will be weakened if there is quantitative easing. This is not hedged for that.

(A Top Pick Oct 15/13. Up 2.68%.) This is a very good ETF. It is very cheap to be able to buy Europe for 12 basis points and, in the meantime, it is earning about 4.3% in the dividend.

(A Top Pick Oct 2/13. Up 0.59%.) Sold about half at much higher levels followed by another 25% in September. Was concerned about the Russian situation, and that it would affect Germany’s growth.

(A Past Pick Oct 2/13. Up 8.55%.) The European thesis was good, but what wrecked it was Putin, which had the effect of hurting the German economy. Fears the ECB might be getting behind the curve again.

This is about 600 European stocks, of which about 30% is UK. There are a number of European ETF’s, but likes this one because it is well diversified.

This gives you a basket of European stocks and he likes the European situation. Has close to 600 companies so there are many large caps as well as mid caps. Well diversified. He also likes that it is about 27% UK.

If you are looking to keep a position over a year, wait for it to come to you. If you are going to keep it for 3 years, you can buy it now. Europe has suffered the worst. You should have a diversified holding in Europe.

Basically hitting highs for the year and, given the inflation data that has been coming out of Europe, you could see additional easing from the central banks. European bond markets continue to get better. This is an important place to have some exposure.

0.14% MER. Large components of France, German and UK. It is more comprehensive than some of the others. Very consumer focused.

Gives a broad exposure to European stocks. Europe is trading at around 12.5X PE versus the US at 16X. Projected earnings growth over 2014 for European companies is currently about 12% versus 8% for the US. European PMI’s (manufacturing) are turning up. You are seeing growth in Germany. You are even starting to see them turn up in Italy. Pays a nice dividend of just under 3%. Weighted to the UK by about 30%, which is a particularly good place. A bit of a slam dunk over the next 5 years if the bull market continues.

Europe is slowly recovering and has great companies that are not very expensive. Thinks it is probably a place to be. He doesn’t buy ETFs, but would look for something that was more leveraged to an industry. Banks will do well. Automotive.

He likes that this is all of Europe including the UK. It is an enormous fund and a lot of money has been going into it since last fall. Good product.