The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) has been decidedly weak relative to the S&P 500 throughout the year.

ETF investors have a plethora of ways to access international exposure in their portfolios that range from single country sector funds to broad-based global indices.

Japan failed to sustain the winning momentum from Abenomics. But the country’s stock market has strongly rebounded in recent months.

The U.S. economy has been growing at an annualized pace of roughly 2% since the current expansion began in June of 2009. Gross Domestic Product for the first half of 2014 hovered around a paltry 1%.