International Equities
International equities have led the way in gains this year, although many U.S. investors may have missed these higher returns. Home country bias may be costing investors: The average advisor allocates 77.5% of their equity portfolio to the U.S., up from 70% in 2018.25 Heightened international returns have followed a supportive mix of fiscal and monetary spending abroad, a weaker dollar, and the possibility of interest rate reductions in the U.S. International equities can help build a well-diversified portfolio, particularly as they show potential for continued support from potential dollar weakness.
Investors have started to correct for this underweight and turning to international, with non-U.S. equity exposures comprising 29% of total equity ETF flow YTD vs. 12% last year.26 Across recent webinars we hosted, clients indicated that they are four times more likely to add exposure to European or developed…
