DWS has launched Europe’s first MSCI World ex-US ETF as investors increasingly look to separate their US equity allocations.
The Xtrackers MSCI World ex USA UCITS ETF (EXUS) is listed on the Deutsche Boerse with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.15%. The ETF will list on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.
EXUS physically replicates the MSCI World ex USA index to capture large and mid-cap companies from 22 global developed markets, excluding the US.
The index is comprised of 870 constituents, covering approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation in each country.
Japan is the index’s highest country exposure, at 21.2%, followed by the UK at 12.9% and France at 10.8%.
The launch follows the boom of ‘magnificent seven’ stocks, particularly Nvidia, which has led to an increasingly higher weighting in the MSCI World index.
As a result, the US currently accounts for 70% of the weighting in the index.
Simon Klein (pictured), global head of Xtrackers sales at DWS, said: “The weighting of US equities in global portfolios has increased significantly in recent years. With a view to more balanced diversification, it could therefore make sense for investors to segment their US exposure from the rest of the global equity portfolio.
“This would create more room to adjust the US equity component more granularly depending on risk performance.”
EXUS’s arrival comes after the asset manager launched a four-strong range of euro corporate bond ETFs with differing fixed maturities last November and a physical carbon exchange-traded commodity (ETC) two days after.
