EELV ETF

Defensive factors have seen a resurgence during the recent weakness in markets. U.S. equities struggled last month due to volatile and increasing bond yields, third-quarter earnings releases, and geopolitical conflict.

While developed U.S. and non-U.S. markets indexes were up year to date through October 20, emerging markets benchmarks were treading water. The two largest emerging markets ETFs are the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO) and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets (IEMG).

Investors can position their portfolios more defensively to safeguard the gains achieved year to date. The economic outlook for the duration of 2023 and beyond remains uncertain.

Domestically, the equities rally has been dominated by large cap technology companies. However, there's also market strength to be had overseas, especially in emerging markets.

Exposure to the quality and low volatility factors can help portfolios remain defensive in the current environment. With lots of uncertainty looming in the market, many investors want to maintain more defensive allocations.