This investor likes Vanguard FTSE right now

In an appearance on BNN Bloomberg Market Call on April 2, RN Croft Financial Group portfolio manager Richard Orrell highlighted the Vanguard FTSE Developed ex North America High Dividend Yield Index ETF as a way to broaden exposure beyond the U.S. while adding a more defensive dividend component.

Orrell said the fund fits with his effort to reduce heavy U.S. concentration and gain broader exposure to international developed markets. He said his thinking has been shaped in part by research into “lost decades” and the role global and emerging markets can play when leadership shifts away from the U.S.

“This fund has done well, and dividends tend to be a pretty good factor,” Orrell said, adding that he sees the ETF as a defensive way to participate in G7 and other developed markets outside North America.

He said the appeal is not necessarily to abandon U.S. exposure, but to complement it with international dividend-paying companies that could help diversify returns if market leadership broadens.

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