Rolle im Portfolio
The Amundi MSCI EMU ETF offers exposure to large- and mid-capitalisation companies across 10 developed markets countries in the Eurozone.
This ETF is best deployed as a core equity holding, but it can also be used as a tactical tool by investors who want to overweight the region in their investment portfolio. However, investors who already have exposure to the Eurozone or any of its countries through other vehicles should ensure that they do not unintentionally overweight exposure by too wide a margin.
Despite its broad geographic exposure, this fund does not offer significant long-term diversification benefits when used in conjunction with other funds providing broad exposure to developed markets. The MSCI EMU index correlation with MSCI World and S&P 500 on a ten-year basis is almost perfect.
This fund is offered in a dividend-distributing class, and therefore it is suitable for income-seeking investors.
Fundamentale Analyse
The Eurozone equity market, as measured by MSCI EMU, has underperformed MSCI World and S&P 500 on a risk-adjusted basis over the past 10-, 5- 3, and 1-year periods out to end-August2015. Its past sub-par performance is hardly surprising given the struggles of the Euro debt crisis. Over half of the portfolio represents cyclical financials and consumer discretionary companies, which have suffered from domestic and emerging markets slowdown and on-going structural issues within the banking sector.
The region has seen a turnaround in fortunes in recent times –as evidenced by rising P/E ratios - to become one the most popular developed market equity investment propositions. This optimism has been largely driven by the market’s positive reaction to the ECB policy stance; particularly so the launch of quantitative easing in January 2015. Also key has been the depreciation of the Euro against major currencies, which has boosted the competitiveness of European export-oriented conglomerates such as Bayer, Anheuser-Busch and Daimler. MSCI EMU has outperformed MSCI World and S&P 500 by 2.8% and 3.7%, respectively, from the beginning of the year to end August 2015.
Market participants expect that the ECB stance will boost the Eurozone’s economic performance going forward. Current data for the region still shows GDP growth below its historical average, with investment particularly lagging. Unemployment continues to be high, particularly in the periphery. At face value, the Eurozone could seem overvalued and vulnerable to downside risks. However, albeit proceeding at a slow pace, there has been an improvement in the main economic indicators.
Overall, the main short-term concern for investors in broad European equity is slowing growth in emerging markets. This is already taking its toll on the region’s large-cap companies, as a substantial proportion of their revenues are derived from the likes of China, Latin America and Africa. On a longer term horizon, investors should focus on risks to the Eurozone recovery (e.g. resurfacing of debt crisis) and the UK’s equity market reaching its potential.
Indexkonstruktion
The MSCI EMU Index includes approximately 85% of the equity market capitalisation of 10 developed countries from the European Economic and Monetary Union. Components must meet minimum criteria for liquidity, as well as foreign ownership restrictions. The securities are weighted by free-float adjusted market capitalisation. The index is reviewed four times a year. The index offers exposure to approximately 240 large- and mid-cap European companies, representing all major sectors. Accounting for about a third of the index weight, France and Germany are the most represented nations (30-35% both about of the index’s value), followed by Spain and the Netherlands (10-11%). Meanwhile, it has fairly limited sector concentration, with financials accounting for 20-25%, followed by consumer discretionary and industrials (both 10-15%). The index is also well-diversified at stock level, with about 20-25% of its total value comprised by the top ten constituents. As of this writing, the largest single equity exposures are Sanofi, Bayer and Total, each with a weight of 2-4%.
Fondskonstruktion
The Amundi ETF MSCI EMU uses the synthetic replication method to track the MSCI EMU Index. The fund uses unfunded swaps. Specifically, Amundi ETF buys and holds a basket of securities and simultaneously enters into a swap agreement with a counterparty BNP Paribas, which commits to pay the index performance (net of swap spread) in exchange for the performance of the fund holdings. The substitute basket consists mainly of stocks from the MSCI Europe Index and/or stocks from the underlying index and, to a lesser extent, stocks in the S&P 500 and/or the Nikkei 225. Additionally the UCITS 5/10/40 diversification rule applies. Amundi aims to maintain zero daily counterparty exposure. To achieve this, the portfolio manager resets the swap on a daily basis regardless of exposure. In the event of a swap-counterparty default, Amundi may appoint another swap counterparty, switch to physical replication or return funds to investors by liquidating the ETF. No securities lending is implemented within this fund.
Gebühren
This fund levies a total expense ratio of 0.25%, which is the below the average of the range of ETFs tracking the broad European equity market. Other potential costs associated with holding this fund which are not included in the TER include rebalancing costs, bid-ask spreads and brokerage fees. Income generated from securities lending helps to recoup some of the total costs. For the one-year period ending July 2015 the fund has outperformed its benchmark by 0.40%
Alternativen
Investors seeking to invest in European equities have access to over 75 ETFs of significant size, some of which marketed with in-built currency hedges. They can choose broad exposure to the region, including or excluding the United Kingdom, as well as restrict it to just the Eurozone. In addition, they can select from a growing range of strategic beta ETFs focusing on factors such as value, quality or dividends.
There are over 20 ETFs providing similar geographical exposure to this Amundi fund, with fees ranging from 0.08% to 0.50%. Amongst the most popular in AUM terms we find the iShares EURO STOXX 50 (DE) (German-domiciled; physical; 0.16%), Lyxor EURO STOXX 50 (synthetic; 0.20%) and iShares EURO STOXX 50 Dist (physical; 0.35%). The difference between MSCI EMU and EURO STOXX 50 is that the latter only measures the performance of the region’s 50 largest companies.
There is also a growing number of strategic beta products focused on the European equity market. Currently, dividend and minimum volatility strategies dominate the landscape. Popular products in AUM terms include iShares EURO Dividend (physical; 0.40%), SPDR S&P Euro Dividend Aristocrats (physical; 0.30%) and iShares MSCI Europe Minimum Volatility (physical; 0.25%). Other strategies include growth, quality, value and multi-factors.
