Are You Paying Attention to International Stocks?
Many successful investors will tell you that in order to build serious wealth, you should concentrate your bets—1 to 3 stocks, all in.
Warren Buffett once said, “Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they're doing.”
The truth? Very few of you actually know what you are doing…
📈 Concentration can make you look like a genius on the way up…
📉 …and devastate your finances on the way down.
The majority of investors today aren’t as diversified as they think.
Odds are, you’re heavily exposed to the big U.S. tech names—Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Alphabet, etc. And to be fair, these companies have hit the cover off the ball over the last decade plus. They’re some of the best companies in the world.
But is the tide starting to shift?
As of today, the S&P 500 is up about 1% year-to-date. Not bad considering the chaos we’ve seen just five months into the year.
Meanwhile, most overseas markets are up well over 10%…
Yeah, yeah, I know, US is awesome, everywhere else stinks, just own the S&P 500…
But I’m interested in making money.
Foreign governments are finally opening their wallets—rebuilding infrastructure, investing in military (hopefully just for defense and not WWIII), and boosting local innovation.
From Schwab:
the U.S. trade war has motivated countries outside of the U.S. to accelerate trade with each other. Already this year, the U.K. and India made a free trade deal, the U.K. and EU struck a landmark post-Brexit reset agreement, and China signed dozens of cooperation agreements with Vietnam and Malaysia.
If your portfolio is 100% U.S.-based, you may be missing out—and possibly taking on more risk than you realize. Completely ignoring international markets is a gamble too.
Yes, the U.S. will likely continue to lead in many areas. Our entrepreneurial culture (and willingness to work around the clock and ignore our families) gives us an edge.
But the markets are a beautiful thing and money doesn’t stand still. If global investors sour on the U.S. for any reason, that capital will flow elsewhere—and you want to be positioned to capitalize on that.
Disclosure: This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.
All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.
All investing includes risks, including fluctuating prices and loss of principal.