Over the past few years, many investors have avoided developed international equity markets for a variety of reasons: anemic growth, disappointing economic data and geopolitical uncertainty. Brian Manby discusses reasons why investors should be optimistic about international equities again.
The stock market is having a moment of truth. A two-week window in late August/early September witnessed so-called “Minimum Volatility” strategies lose their luster, underperforming Value by 4 percentage points. Could this value trend continue?
In his 2018 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett wrote that stock performance converges with business performance over time if the original purchase price is not excessive. Jeremy Schwartz and Kara Marciscano make the case for our quality dividend growth strategy, with aggregate profitability that is comparable to Berkshire’s equity portfolio and a valuation below the S&P 500.
If factor investing makes logical sense—and we think it does—the way to operate an ETF business is to have conviction and reasonable fees. Using simple arithmetic, Jeff Weniger calculates the “hurdle rate,” which quantifies how well active selections need to perform to cover their expense ratios.
When it comes to low-volatility strategies, it’s important to look under the hood to determine what risks may or may not be evident. Christopher Gannatti discuses a low-volatility investing option with less valuation risk for today’s equity market.
We think investors should consider maintaining exposure to developed international equities in the current market environment. Currency hedging and small caps could be considered two important themes to help investors generate excess returns and limit downside risk across developed international markets.
After significant relative outperformance in the U.S. equity market like we have seen over the past decade, some investors begin to question the merits of maintaining their diversification. With the outperformance and the valuation advantage that now exists in developed international equities, we believe now may be the time to maintain, or even add to, a global portfolio.