Is Vanguard FTSE Europe A Solid Way To Help Diversify Against A Major S&P 500 Downturn?

Summary The State Street SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF Trust is broadly acknowledged as richly valued, a central concern for serious investment advisors. No one knows when a major U.S. correction may come, but it's a good idea to diversify outside the U.S. After considering about a dozen countries, I settled upon Europe as relatively safe and somewhat akin to the U.S. indexes if you removed the Mag 7. The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF is a low-expense option with a quality blending large cap value and growth. sankai/iStock via Getty Images Very few serious investment advisors attempt to deny the fact that the State Street SPDR S&P 500 Index ( SPY ) ETF Trust is very richly valued. The trailing S&P 500 price-to-earnings ratio is a bit over 26—far This article was written by Jim Sloan 23.47K Followers Follow I am a retired professor, a retired investment adviser, and currently a private investor and full-time tennis pro. I bought my first stock in a custodial account in 1958. I am a student of history, particularly military and economic/market history. The intellectual passions of my retirement years have been markets, mathematics, and quantum theory. Recently I have found myself reading book after book on the thoughts and feelings of animals, and I believe they are subtly influencing some of my views. I have a cat I like a lot. I like to travel. I served in Vietnam. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of VGK, GOOG either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.