The Smartest ETF to Buy With $1,000 Right Now

Sometimes, instead of picking individual stocks, it pays to buy the entire market, especially if most stocks are rising.

An easy way to do that is with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks an entire index like the S&P 500 index or the Nasdaq Composite, both of which are doing well so far in 2025. The S&P 500 is up almost 18% this year, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq has climbed an impressive 24%.

But there's another market blowing those two out of the water right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Look East to help your portfolio go North

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, is up 70% year to date, which means it has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 50 percentage points. And the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEMKT: EWY), which tracks the performance of large- and mid-cap stocks in the South Korean market (analogous to the S&P 500), is a great way to invest in it. That ETF is up an astonishing 88% this year.

South Korea's stock market is being driven higher partly by AI, which is sending its tech stocks -- and particularly its chipmakers -- much higher.

In addition, the country's new president, Lee Jae Myung, elected in June, promised to end the so-called "Korea discount" -- which refers to the fact that Korea's listed companies have historically suffered from low valuations -- in part by passing new shareholder protections. He also wants to lower the threshold for capital gains taxes on stocks. That's driving investor flows into Korean stocks and ETFs.

At the ETF's current price of just about $96 a share, an investment of $1,000 will get you a little more than 10 shares, with enough left over to enjoy a very nice lunch as you contemplate future profits.

Matthew Benjamin has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.