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Funds holding foreign securities haven&s;t done terribly well in recent years, but if you want to bet on a reversal of fortune, the exchange-traded funds in this table are the cheap way to do it. You can hold a $10,000 position in any of them for three months at a cost of $10 or less. The best operators get your cost down to $2.
Costs reflect bid/ask spreads, expense ratios charged by the fund vendor and any offsets to those expenses from securities lending revenue.
&l;div class=&q;table-wrapper&q;&g;&l;table width=&q;531&q;&g;&l;tbody&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;331&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;3&q; width=&q;72&q;&g;3-month Holding Cost*&l;/td&g; &l;td width=&q;64&q;&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td rowspan=&q;2&q; width=&q;64&q;&g;Liquidity Score&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;Ticker&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Exchange-traded fund&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Diversified&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VEA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;$2.05&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEFA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.46&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VSS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.51&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VEU&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.40&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SPDW&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Portfolio World ex-US&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.68&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHF&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab International Equity&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.96&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VT&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total World Stock&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.04&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IXUS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.60&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VXUS&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total International Stock&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.40&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCZ&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.85&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;EFAV&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;7.62&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;ACWI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI ACWI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.94&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHC&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab International Small-Cap Eq&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.95&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IDEV&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Intl Dev Mkts&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.96&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;EFA&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI EAFE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.17&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Regional&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VGK&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Europe&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;2.00&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VPL&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Pacific&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;3.89&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEUR&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Europe&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.16&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;FEZ&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR EURO Stoxx 50&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.48&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Emerging&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;IEMG&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;1.92&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A+&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VWO&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.62&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SCHE&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Schwab Emerging Markets Equity&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;6.76&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;SPEM&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;9.20&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;B&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;em&g;Other&l;/em&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;BNDX&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Total International Bond&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;4.64&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;VNQI&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;Vanguard Global ex-US Real Est&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;5.95&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;tr&g;&l;td&g;THD&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;iShares MSCI Thailand Capped&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;8.81&l;/td&g; &l;td&g;A&l;/td&g; &l;/tr&g;&l;/tbody&g;&l;/table&g;&l;/div&g;
*&l;em&g;Cost of a $10,000 position held for three months. Reflects bid/ask spread, expense ratio and cost offset from securities lending.&l;/em&g;
&l;em&g;Data sources: Morningstar, Bloomberg, fund distributors&l;/em&g;
Over longer holding periods, different ETFs rise to the top in cost efficiency. To see rankings for ten-year investments, see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/06/20/best-etfs-for-investors-2018/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs for Investors 2018&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.
For links to the three-month scores in different categories, see &l;a href=&q;https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2018/08/02/best-etfs-for-trading/&q;&g;&l;strong&g;Best ETFs for Trading&l;/strong&g;&l;/a&g;.
