Foreign Utility Funds:

There are NO mutual funds that invest exclusively in foreign utilities.

However there are a few domestic utility mutual funds that have a high percentage of portfolio exposure to foreign utilities. So if you want to invest in utilities abroad, this may be an option.

The following are some of those mutual funds:

1.Eaton Vance Utilities/ Dividend Builder A (EVTMX) – Has plenty of foreign exposure. A few months ago had some 40% on foreign utilities.

2.MFS Utilities Fund/I (MMUFX) – Had some 31% of portfolio in foreign utilities

3.AllianceBern Utility Income Adv (AUIYX) – Has some exposure to foreign utilities

Other mutual funds for review:
4. Franklin Custodian Fds:Utilities Series/Adv – FRUAX
5. Jennison Utility Fund – PRUZX
6. FBR Gas Utility Index Fund – GASFX
7. ProFunds:Utilities Ultrasector/Inv – UTPIX
8. American Century Utilities Inv – BULIX

Another option is to invest via ETFs. There are two ETFs in the market that concentrate on utilities in other countries. They are :

1. iShares S&P; Global Utilities Index Fund – JXI
This utility ETF has an asset base of $175 M and an yield of 9.27%. The expense ratio is 0.48%. Portfolio has some 68 stocks and the German utility giant EON AG is the largest holding.

The ETF has US utilities as well.Last year the fund returned just over 22% and the 5 year average annual return is over 26%.

More info. on this ETF can be found here:
http://www.ishares.com/product_info/fund/returns/JXI.htm

This ETF is a STRONG BUY now.The ETF has fallen from over $72 to the current price of $62+.

2. WisdomTree International Utilities Sector Fund – DBU
This one has assets of over $32 M. The big European countries of Spain,France, Germany, Italy and UK form the majority in the portfolio.

Links:

A list of such stocks can be found here:
https://www.topforeignstocks.com/Hi-Yield-Portfolio-Utilities.htm

The above site has Canadian utility stocks listed in NYSE, ADRs of European Utilities, Brazilian utilities etc.

There are some ADR stocks that are relatively unknown and they tend to fly under the radar. Investors who get in early at the right time reap huge rewards when everyone else is making average returns elsewhere. I call these stocks as “Stealth ADRs”. Below are some of these ADRs:

1. Nestle – SA – NSRGY.pk
2. Yara International – YARIY.pk
3. Adidas – ADDYY.pk

More later..

There are thousands of ADR stocks that trade in the US. For an investor that is venturing into the many foreign country stocks, this can be overwhelming.

Picture: Mount Everest view from the China side

Here are a few of the best ADRs that you can accumulate for your portfolio:

1. Petrobras – Brazil – PBR
2. Nestle SA – Switzerland – NSRGY.pk
3. Royal Bank of Canada – RY
4. Banco Bradesco – Brazil – BBD
5. National Australia Bank – NABZY.pk

One Cheap ADR stock trading at a discount now:
1.Societe Generale – France – SCGLY.pk

Note: This post is for informational purposes only.Please do your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.