URTH: There Are More Affordable Ways To Achieve International Diversification

Summary

• iShares MSCI World ETF captures a strong mix of U.S. and developed market holdings, but the fund has a relatively high expense ratio.
• There are multiple reasons to believe that international equities may outperform the U.S. market over the next decade, including current valuations, earnings, and macro-level risk factors.
• Investors can achieve similar international diversification to URTH with lower fees by combining U.S. total market and developed market funds from Vanguard or Schwab.
• URTH's exclusion of emerging markets provides more advantages than disadvantages due to the multiple unique emerging market risk factors.

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Investment Thesis

iShares MSCI World ETF (NYSEARCA:URTH) is a hold due to mixed factors impacting the fund. While URTH captures a strong balance between U.S. and developed markets through its mix of cap-weighted holdings, the ETF has

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