Have you noticed that in addition to the EXUS-ETF, Blackrock also launched a World ex-USA -ETF (IXUA) earlier this year? Which one would be better? Here:
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These have sprung up like mushrooms. At least EXUS, IXUA, WEXE, and CHSI are available. CHSI seems to be the cheapest of the current ones, at least on paper, but it is the newest of these, and its AUM is quite small, at least for now.
They follow the same index, making comparison easy, but there is very little performance history available so far.
At this stage, these cannot really be compared any further.
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EXUS is Deutsche Bankâs and IXUA is Blackrockâs. There is an impression that Deutsche Bank was at some point close to bankruptcy. In that sense, Blackrockâs IXUA would feel like a safer option.
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On the other hand, Blackrock is a US company, which might have its own political risks at a time like this. 
At least for me, a desire has grown to lean a bit towards home and favor European.
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Could the wiser ones tell me why my main IUSQ is constantly stuck at the same level, while other broad indices are rising nicely, e.g., YTD:
- IUSQ: -3.20 %
- VT: +8.41 %
Is this due to exchange rates?
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Yes. The dollar has weakened significantly over the year, so euro-denominated ETFs have performed worse than dollar-denominated ones.
I donât know if I was dreaming, but didnât someone already answer this 
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Apparently, the retaliatory tax has been removed from the agenda. So apparently, withholding taxes collected from US companies will not be raised after all:
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Hello forum members.
We have savings for 2 children (8 and 11 years old) sitting in the bank.
The intention is to put the money (15,000 available for each) entirely into index funds or ETF funds.
We have thought of the same for both, itâs easier and both will win/lose equally 
-Nordnet Finland Index would be one, is it fee-free?
-Then the European Handelsbanken Europa Index (A1 Eur)
or
Xtrackers Euro Stoxx 50 Ucits Etf 1 C
- Global diversification iShares Core MSCI World Ucits ETF Usd (ACC)
-United States
Handelsbanken USA Index
or
ISHARES MSCI USA USITC ETF USD (Acc)
So the question is, how do the above sound?
-Are there too many targets and similar ones?
What do forum members suggest?
Thanks in advance to all respondents 
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If you are planning to buy through Nordnetâs ETF monthly savings, here would be a good global ETF.
SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI UCITS ETF â compare and buy exchange-traded funds | Nordnet
The MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI) is a comprehensive global equity index that invests in large, mid, and small-cap companies in both developed and emerging markets. It offers the broadest possible diversification with a single index, covering approximately 99% of the worldâs investable equities
If buying directly through another bank, I might lean towards this one due to slightly lower costs, even though itâs not quite as diversified.
SPDR MSCI All Cntry Wld ETF â compare and buy exchange-traded funds | Nordnet
The MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) is a global equity index that invests in large and mid-cap companies in both developed and emerging markets. It offers broad diversification across over 2,500 stocks from 49 countries, aiming to represent approximately 85% of global investable equities
Either of these, and nothing else is needed.
Edit. The amount to be invested is quite large, so I would primarily lean towards ETFs due to slightly lower ongoing costs. ETFs can also be transferred from one broker to another if the need ever arises.
In these inquiries, it would be good to mention which broker is being used, as the fund offering varies, and there are differences in buying and selling fees as well as potential monthly custody account fees. This would make it easier to give advice.
Nordnet is quite expensive for direct ETF purchases, but when investing through monthly savings, itâs quite reasonable at âŹ2.5, and thereâs no monthly fee. If youâre investing through Nordnet, as your messageâs fund choices might suggest, I would personally buy the ETF (SPYI) found behind the first link for children through monthly savings.
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I donât really understand this urge to invest in a global stock index. Why would I invest in markets that have historically underperformed year after year? For diversification? Doesnât appeal to me.
Iâd rather choose indices that have generated excess returns over the long term. Itâs worth remembering that markets are global, so you donât have to invest in Gambian stocks to get exposure to the Gambian market.
Currently, I am underweight in US indices, but overweight in Sweden. Vietnam also plays a significant role in my portfolio. Poland is on my consideration list.
Since 1900, some countriesâ stock markets have performed well. The top ten best performing stock markets in the world since 1900 include the following countries: Australia, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
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By investing in as global and low-cost an index fund as possible, one has outperformed approximately 3/4 of all investors. By investing in it, one is sure to invest in the future winners, no matter what sector or country they are from. It is the proven correct way to invest, which is easy to recommend.
You can take a view by choosing what you consider the best or historically best-performing markets, but nothing guarantees that they will be the best in the future either. When you start taking a view, the odds are fundamentally against you.
If your hypothesis is that the best markets are those mentioned above, which performed best in the 1900-2019 period, then why are you underweighting the USA, and your portfolio includes Vietnam and you are considering Poland?
Dr. Bryan Taylor researched stock market returns from the 1600s onwards and the USA, Australia, Sweden, and Switzerland were the best-performing markets. In his research, he named the âfour horsemenâ that have destroyed stock market returns the most: war, inflation, socialism, and autarky. So, in light of history, it would be wise to avoid countries where one believes these will appear in the future.
The biggest explanatory factor was wars. Sweden and Switzerland have long been neutral, and their soil has not seen war for over 200 years. The USA and Australia are isolated enough that their soil has not seen much war either, even though they have participated in wars.
If there even is a stock exchange in Gambia, I strongly doubt it has achieved MSCI Emerging Market status
Hesuliâs returns in recent years are a great example that the world is not yet so global that global diversification would not be needed, even if a large part of listed companies get some of their revenue from abroad.
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Large island nations could be good investment targets, as they are difficult to occupy (Australia, etc.). Iâve pretty much lost faith in developing countries, so I no longer invest in them. Too many unpleasant surprises are to be expected.
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Iâm concerned about the large weight of the USA in the global index. It involves an unpleasantly high amount of currency risk. If the dollarâs safe-haven status weakens (as it has already partially done), a Finnish investor will take a nasty hit. Thatâs why, in addition to the global index, I also invest a small weight outside the USA with separate ETFs, such as EXUS, etc.
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It is undeniably quite heavily weighted.
If one wants to rely on studies(here to a video discussing the study) when choosing an allocation, then by overweighting the Eurozone, one could slightly dilute the USA weight. According to Cederburg, someone living in the Eurozone should therefore interpret the âallocation to domestic stocksâ presented in the graph as an allocation to Eurozone stocks. Based on the study, the optimal home market allocation was 33%. This result was reached precisely because of currency risk. Possible tax benefits or lower costs were not taken into account.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. In fifty years, from 1865 to 1917, the stock markets of the superpower USA approximately doubled, while the âstock marketsâ of the superpower Russia quadrupled. After this, they languished for a while. After the stagnation, there was a good boom for a couple of decades with excess returns available, until a small dip occurred.
Half of the countries on the top-ten list were not independent states in the early part of the review period. A lot can happen in such a review period of over a hundred years, which could make the list look quite different.
With diversification, the expected return decreases, as does the risk. For my children, I put hundreds per month into Storebrandâs Global All Countries. This way, they are in as equal a position as possible, and steady wealth growth can be expected. Both of their wealths would have grown well even with just Nvidia. The return percentages of the first purchase batches would be +800% and 1600%, which could cause a slight feeling of unfairness in the younger one. Itâs good to learn to tolerate unfairness, but not through actions caused by parents.
With oneâs own money, one can take a view, but with othersâ money, I certainly donât want to do that. According to Google, the MSCI World Index seems to have risen by over 10% per year in just under fifty years. I would at least approve this for my offspring. The world index is, in my opinion, the best solution when seeking reliable and easy wealth growth. My own portfolio also relies on the world index, which I have now made slightly Europe-weighted. Then thereâs a âplay moneyâ thousand for derivatives if I really want to take a view.
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MSCI World is not truly a world index, as it completely lacks emerging markets. MSCI World invests only in developed countries, so it does not include the couple of dozen emerging countries found in MSCI ACWI. World includes 23 countries, whereas ACWI includes 47 countries.
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This is not entirely true. Idiosyncratic risk decreases and portfolio standard deviation decreases.
As a result, the portfolioâs geometric expected return actually increases.
An excellent blog post on the effects of diversification can be found by Markku Kurtti, who is also influential on the forum.
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@CitizenJ How do you personally invest? Is your portfolio 100% ACWI IMI or do you take a view?
Currently, approximately 35% is a view. The rest of the overall structure is quite close to ACWI IMI, but formed using several products.
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Whatâs your view on the reason? Is it due to factors, to reduce your currency risk, because of withholding taxes, or why?