"It's a One-Way Train" - the Case for Looking Beyond the US Has Never Been Stronger

Why It Matters

The shift highlights a tactical turning point for portfolios: sticking solely with US equities increases valuation and concentration risk, while diversified exposure to developed and emerging markets can enhance returns and hedge against a weakening dollar and stagflationary pressures.

Summary

Panelist Anna Woo warned that US equity dominance masks rising concentration risk as a handful of mega-cap tech stocks (the "Magnificent 7") drive returns, leaving broad US exposure expensive and less diversified. She argued global opportunities—particularly Japan and Europe—now offer attractive earnings improvement and reasonable valuations, and that value stocks should outperform in a higher-inflation, slower-growth environment. For growth-seeking investors, emerging markets (notably China and India) look compelling amid a likely multi-year US dollar downcycle, policy-driven capital deployments and stronger GDP/corporate growth prospects. Woo recommended rebalancing portfolios to capture relative value and reduce single-market concentration while maintaining some US allocation for its still-leading earnings growth.

Original Description

When you think of investing, the US and the Magnificent Seven naturally come to mind, and for years that instinct was rewarded.

However, VanEck's Anna Wu argues that era may be coming to an end. In 2025, US equities ranked at the bottom across small cap, large cap and bonds. So if not the US, then where?

In this interview, Wu outlines where the opportunities are, what diversification means today and the thinking behind VanEck's newly launched Core Plus ETF range.

Time codes:

00:00 - Introduction

00:30 - Why US equities are no longer the obvious default

04:00 - Where to find opportunities ex-US

09:56 - High-conviction trade ideas/exposures that express ex-US view

13:03 - Why diversification matters again in today's market

15:26 - How to use ETFs to build a diversified portfolio

18:09 - VanEck’s newly launched Core+ Diversified Active ETF suite

19:43 - Where Core+ fits in a portfolio