The U.S. and
foreign equity exposure is not currency hedged but foreign fixed income is hedged back into the Canadian dollar.
Don't Fear the Unknown — By this he means have
some foreign equity exposure and biotechnology investments.
The foreign equity exposure in the ETF portfolio comes from Vanguard's VXC, which tracks US and international markets, including large, mid and small - cap companies.
It is more likely that they will take assets from their Canadian equity managers and increase
their foreign equity exposure with their existing international managers.
The Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund (DODFX) is a low - cost, actively managed fund that seeks to provide investors with
foreign equity exposure.
It emphasizes
foreign equity exposure, observing that, at 57 per cent domestic exposure, Canadians are behind only Australians in having the worst level of home country bias in their portfolios — despite the fact Canada makes up only about 3.5 per cent of global stock market capitalization.
In a large RRSP, therefore, it may be significantly more cost - effective to hold US - listed ETFs for
your foreign equity exposure.
This implies an explicit
foreign equity exposure of 20 % of the total portfolio and about 28.6 % of its equity portion (20 % in a portfolio with 70 % of «assets that promise equity - like returns»).
Not exact matches
International
equities and emerging markets have
exposure to currency fluctuations,
foreign taxes, political instability and the possibility for illiquid markets.
And as they do, U.S. investors should preferably gain that
exposure via instruments that seek to hedge the
foreign currency impact, as dollar strength means
equity gains in local currency terms will be muted when translated back into U.S. dollars.
With volatility returning to domestic
equities, it might be time for investors to consider increasing their
exposure to
foreign markets, specifically emerging Europe.
Oakmark International Fund: The percentages of hedge
exposure for each
foreign currency are calculated by dividing the market value of all same - currency forward contracts by the market value of the underlying
equity exposure to that currency.
Oakmark Global Fund: The percentages of hedge
exposure for each
foreign currency are calculated by dividing the market value of all same - currency forward contracts by the market value of the underlying
equity exposure to that currency.
An ETF product based on the DR indexes would enable China - based investors to gain
exposure to
foreign - traded
equities and to trade them in renminbi on the Shanghai exchange, Roath says.
Several factors to consider when implementing a personalized approach are the overall
equity exposures between the U.S. and
foreign markets, hedging and alternative investments.
«This was particularly evident with the
foreign interest in Japanese
equities, but eschewing yen
exposure.»
For example, the real estate sector has returned on average 6 percent for every one percent of GDP growth but has very little
foreign revenue
exposure, so may be a strong sector to overweight for both diversification to international
equity exposure and for upside potential with U.S. economic growth.
At the same time, even a domestic
equity portfolio has an implicit
exposure to
foreign markets.
Although the DRS is now offered upon other asset classes like small cap
equity,
foreign developed, and emerging markets, the flagship offering has always utilized U.S. large cap ETFs for its
equity exposure.
If you add
foreign bonds, it will add to volatility and I would then reduce the
exposure to
equities.
Beyond this, you must also consider their sector representation (some of the Canadian
equity ETFs, for instance, have large financial sector
exposure) as well as whether a CAD currency hedge (aimed at removing their
foreign currency risk) is something for you or not.
Hedging
foreign exchange risk resulting from global
equity exposure is entirely reasonable when
foreign currencies appear expensive and likely to take a nosedive versus the Canadian dollar.
While global
equities are historically more volatile for U.S. dollar investors than in local currency terms, the Canadian dollar's procyclical nature has provided an almost natural hedge that would have faded if
foreign currency
exposure had been hedged (see the chart below).
Many investors have asked me about this since the 2013 budget spelled doom for the so - called «Advantaged» ETFs from iShares, which also promised tax - efficient
exposure to bonds and
foreign equities.
It is interesting to note that the CPPIB does not hedge the
foreign currency
exposure in its
equity portfolio.
Since the benefits of hedging are debatable but the costs are certain, it may be best to stick with direct
exposure to
foreign equity markets.
During June - July, our
equity exposure moved down from 65 % -70 % stock (e.g., growth, value, large, small,
foreign, etc.), down to 50 % (mostly large - cap domestic).
Up to this point, we've already upped our
foreign exposure from 10 % to 15 % within our asset allocation, so far staying within the confines of
equity investing, which we're most familiar with.
When selecting
equity funds, considers U.S. and
foreign investment
exposure, market capitalization ranges and investment style (growth vs. value) along with other factors.
That said, our picks include both ETFs that provide both direct unhedged
exposure to
foreign equities, as well as some that hedge back into the Canadian dollar (but all still trading on the TSX).
A 60 to 80 %
foreign stock
exposure for the
equity allocation is not unrealistic.
In any case, Canadian investors owning currency unhedged
foreign equities will already have plenty of
foreign currency
exposure.
If the Canadian dollar strengthens, investment returns for Canadian investors who own
foreign equities will fall, which might make the investors wish they had hedged their currency
exposure.
Registered plan sponsors have been limited in their asset swaps under the FPR due to their use of their
foreign content
exposure for their
equity portfolios.
For the period ended May 31, 2011, the effect of warrants with
equity risk
exposure held of $ (125,221,529), $ 304,186, and $ (205,075) for the Fairholme Fund, the Income Fund, and the Allocation Fund, respectively, is included with Net Change in Unrealized Appreciation / Depreciation on Investments and
Foreign Currency Related Transactions on the Statements of Operations.
The strategy will invest in
foreign securities by purchasing
equity securities directly or through instruments that provide
exposure to
foreign companies.
The CPP Investment Board sees «no compelling reason to hedge
equity - related currency
exposure,» largely because «hedging would unduly tie Fund returns to the price of oil and other commodities as they drive the
foreign exchange value of the Canadian dollar.»
If past performance is any indication and if investment performance is the only consideration, it appears that investors will likely be better off obtaining direct
exposure to
foreign equities without hedging away currency
exposure.
Although
foreign equities can be part of a diversification strategy, keep in mind that nearly half of the earnings of large U.S. companies comes from overseas, so you may already have
exposure to
foreign markets.4
This position implies that the fund held
equities with a significant
exposure to the domestic and
foreign healthcare sector.
Given the
exposure which REITs offer
foreign investors to U.S. markets, the change is expected to draw additional global investments, especially from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional and
equity investors.
For the
foreign investor that may already have U.S. property
exposure, CMBS provides current income to off - set their «J - Curve»
equity investments.