Underweighting the US using index funds

Billycock

bostonerimus said:

MaxiRobriguez said:

The simplest way to achieve reduced US weighting from a global fund is to add a global-ex-US fund?

Agreed, Vanguard keeps telling me that I need more international stocks so last week I just bought VTIAX which is an international equity fund ex-US.

Vanguard actually tell you? How? send a secure message saying 'oi! buck your ideas up'

coastline

Bobziz said:

So the assumption is that the US is over valued and therefore growth may be slower than other regions or a larger correction may occur. Does history suggest that this  assumption is likely to be correct ?

Hardly been anything but overvalued since 1986 when you look at the link. According to most forecasts P/E will be nearer 20 by 2022.
▷ S&P500 PE Ratio - Shiller PE Ratio - 150 Year Chart | Longtermtrends
Is the Stock Market Cheap? - dshort - Advisor Perspectives
If the gap between the 200 day moving average at 3762 and the index at 4197 closed then commentators in the media would be saying it's time to buy again. That's how unpredictable it all is ?
 E2N9pgVWUAErsN_ (900×815) (twimg.com)

bostonerimus

Billycock said:

bostonerimus said:

MaxiRobriguez said:

The simplest way to achieve reduced US weighting from a global fund is to add a global-ex-US fund?

Agreed, Vanguard keeps telling me that I need more international stocks so last week I just bought VTIAX which is an international equity fund ex-US.

Vanguard actually tell you? How? send a secure message saying 'oi! buck your ideas up'

I'm in the US so Vanguard has a few more features than in the UK. They analyze your asset allocation and will give very general comments and alerts. My US allocation has grown with the run up in US markets and so I used some spare cash to increase my non-US stock holdings. You can also specify a target allocation and the website will give suggestions about how to rebalance if you diverge from your target.

aroominyork

Billycock said:

For clarification, the mentions of cycle, over what period of time would one define a cycle?

I asked something similar on this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5780736/the-economic-cycle-and-its-impact-on-investments

Thrugelmir

Bobziz said:

So the assumption is that the US is over valued and therefore growth may be slower than other regions or a larger correction may occur. Does history suggest that this  assumption is likely to be correct ?

Not all US companies are valued highly. There's often far too much generalisation which leads to misunderstanding. 

Prism

Thrugelmir said:

Bobziz said:

So the assumption is that the US is over valued and therefore growth may be slower than other regions or a larger correction may occur. Does history suggest that this  assumption is likely to be correct ?

Not all US companies are valued highly. There's often far too much generalisation which leads to misunderstanding. 

No, but the OP was looking for index funds which suggests no option to avoid the higher priced stuff really.

[Deleted User]

Billycock said:

For clarification, the mentions of cycle, over what period of time would one define a cycle?

Good question. 
Because changes in investment patterns may signify a shift rather than a cycle. 
It's comforting to think that financial markets follow a cyclic pattern but, usually, they break out..

aroominyork

I imagine there are a goodly number of people who want a global indexing approach which invests less than 55% in the US. The only single fund option is VLS, but that means overweighting the UK. I think there would be a market for a global ex-US fund, letting people combine it in the proportion of their choice with a regular, cap weighted global fund.

Thrugelmir

aroominyork said:

The only single fund option is VLS, but that means overweighting the UK. 

Have you missed the repeated discussions on brass plate locations ? 

ChilliBob

Some other thoughts to throw in the mix - US Wide Moat Index Etf is quite different to a US tracker... If you're concerned about the concentrated risk of Fangs etc.