It tracks an
index of international equities that have been increasing dividends for at least five years, but are still paying out less than 75 % of earnings.
The constant
benefit of international equity diversification has been the lower risk experienced by portfolios that combine domestic and international markets.
This appears unlikely, so an effective diversification strategy should include a variety of asset classes, regardless of how diversified the
basket of international equities might be.
You've probably also noticed some variation in the
value of your international equity holdings as our dollar has experienced some wild swings in most overseas currencies over the past six months.
For investors seeking out the proverbial free
lunch of international equity diversification — like returns with lower risk — this doesn't sound like a favorable shift in trends.
Leila Heckman,
head of international equities at Lebenthal Asset Management, joined us for our monthly Salon to discuss the increased acceptance of global diversification among portfolio managers and the reasons behind her approach to investing.
Templeton gave the company a strong
portfolio of international equity funds as well as the expertise of emerging markets guru Dr. Mark Mobius, who, during his distinguished career, spent more than 40 years working in emerging markets all over the world.
Prior to that, Sekhon served as director and head
of International Equities at Henderson Global Investors, where he led a team managing Global and EAFE (Europe, Australasia & Far East) portfolios for clients around the world.
Prior to joining Chautauqua Capital in 2013, Dan Boston served as a senior portfolio manager and head
of international equity for Ensign Peak Advisors, where he constructed and managed the firm's international all - cap equity portfolio and institutionalized their fundamental research process.
Angus Shillington,
director of international equities at Van Eck Global, a brokerage that offers single - country ETFs, says predicting which countries» markets will avoid such problems «is more difficult than picking stocks.»
On the domestic equity side fund investors shunned equity income funds -LRB-- $ 614 million net) but warmed to large - cap funds (+ $ 730 million), while on the nondomestic equity side investors were net
purchasers of international equity funds (+ $ 1.3 billion).
This direct investment strategy will be a change from how XEF currently implements its investment strategy by investing in shares of iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, a U.S. iShares Fund that itself invests in a portfolio
of international equity securities included in the XEF Index.
For now: continue to do the automatic investment thing, undertake a modest bit of rebalancing
out of international equities, and renew my focus on really big questions like whether to paint the ugly «I'm so «70s» brick fireplace in my living room.
Our Balanced, Growth & Aggressive ETF portfolios saw the greatest return due to their larger weightings in the iShares Core MSCI EAFE IMI ETF (XEF), which
consists of international equities.
Huemmer noted a combination of factors driving the shift, including strong emerging - market performance, positive expectations for global growth, compelling
valuations of international equities, and more accommodative monetary policy overseas.
However, keep in mind that the new Vanguard asset allocation ETFs also include a healthy
dose of both international equity (unhedged to the loonie) as well as international fixed income (hedged back to the C$).
Less than 15 %
of International Equity General and Australian Bonds funds and less than 30 % of Australian Equity General and Australian Equity A-REIT funds managed to outperform their respective benchmarks on an absolute basis.
On the domestic equity side fund investors shunned large - cap funds -LRB-- $ 0.7 billion net), while on the nondomestic equity side investors were net
purchasers of international equity funds (+ $ 1.1 billion).