This Morningstar article is indicative of the amount that Americans are investing in the rest of the world. Clearly the United States is not a leader. Our focus must be investing at home. Wait a minute, Businessweek reports that American corporation are sitting on $1.8 trillion.
By looking at the big picture and taking advantage of opportunities abroad, investors may experience higher returns than if they were invested solely in the United States. However, holding a diversified portfolio (both in U.S. and international markets) may be the best way to protect against global market fluctuations and risk.
This is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any investment. An investment cannot be made directly in an index. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All returns were calculated in U.S. dollars. Returns and principal invested in stocks are not guaranteed. International investments involve special risks such as fluctuations in currency, foreign taxation, economic and political risks, and differences in accounting and financial standards.
Source: Equities for each country are represented by Morgan Stanley Capital International Indexes and the U.S. stock market by the Standard & Poor’s 500®, which is an unmanaged group of securities and considered to be representative of the stock market in general. Developed countries in this analysis include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
Article reprinted with permission from Morningstar, Inc.
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