Best international ETFs for 2018

Overview Canadian U.S. International Fixed-Income All-in-one ETFs

The International Equity category was the least controversial for the panel, as we were unanimous in retaining the existing three picks from prior years and saw no need to add any new ones (apart from the much-discussed here Vanguard asset-allocation ETFs.)

So the returning international equity All-Star ETFs include the two from BlackRock: the iShares Core MSCI All Country World ex Canada Index ETF (XAW) and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF (XEF). As noted earlier, the third is Vanguard’s Emerging Markets ETF (VEE).

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$). As the PWL team notes, in all three portfolios Vanguard allocates 30% of the equity mix to Canadian equities and 70% to global equities.

About Jonathan Chevreau

As MoneySense’s Investing-Editor-at-Large, he is also author of Findependence Day and co-author of Victory Lap Retirement. Reach him at [email protected], where he is the founder of Financial Independence Hub.

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