Status: Regional Indexed Funds

Fund on basis of companies in The MSCI EAFE (NYSE: EFA) is a stock market index of 'foreign' stocks, from the perspective of a North American investor. The index is market capitalization weighted (meaning that the weight of securities is determined based on their respective market capitalizations.) The index targets coverage of 85% of the market capitalization of the equity market of all countries that are a part of the index. It is maintained by Morgan Stanley Capital International; the EAFE acronym stands for "Europe, Australasia, and Far East".

The index includes a selection of stocks from 21 developed markets, but excludes those from the U.S. and Canada. The index has been calculated since 31 December 1969, making it the oldest truly global stock index. It is probably the most common benchmark for 'foreign' stock funds.

(Of course, in the above, 'foreign' is from the point of view of investors in the United States and Canada; there are also "World ex Europe", "World ex Japan", etc., designed for use by investors in other parts of the world looking to invest outside their home country or region.)

Included following companies in different business sectors:

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Preferred PETR
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. PETR
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce Preferred Class A VALE
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce ADR RIO
Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. Preferred ITAU
Banco Bradesco S.A. Preferred BBDC
Companhia de Bedidas das Americas Preferred AMBV
Unibanco — Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros S.A. UBBR
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A. Preferred TNLP
Companhia Energetica de Minas Gerais Preferred CMIG
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A. Preferred EMBR
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional S.A. CSNA
Gerdau S.A. Preferred GGBR
Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. Preferred Class A USIM
Aracruz Celulose S.A. Preferred Class B ARCZ
CAEMI Mineracao e Metalurgia S.A. Preferred CMET
Brasil Telecom Participacoes S.A. Preferred BRTP
Centrais Electricas Brasileiras S.A. ELET
Braskem S.A. Preferred Class A BRKM
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S.A. TNLP