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Not too long ago, ValueShares launched its active value ETF in the U.S. market, namely the U.S. Quantitative Value ETF (BATS: QVAL ) . The product has seen decent success so far having amassed about $21 million in assets within just 1.5 months. Probably encouraged by this strong response, the issuer has introduced another value based ETF targeting the international market on December 17, 2014. Below we have highlighted the fund in greater detail for investors seeking a new way to play value stocks in international markets: The ValueShares International Quantitative Value ETF (BATS: IVAL ) in Focus The newly launched ETF is actively managed in nature. The fund provides exposure to about 50 international stocks with strong value characteristics. As such, the fund provides an opportunity to invest in some of the cheapest and quality stocks of abroad on long-term valuation metrics. To do so, the issuer uses a systematic technique. The fund manager initially selects a group of mid-to-large cap international stocks, then analyses financial statements and finally identifies stocks which boast lower enterprise values with respect to operating earnings as well as dirt cheap valuations before considering those as investment targets. The fund charges 99 bps in fees for this exposure. How Could it Fit in a Portfolio? The fund could be a good choice for value investors targeting the international market. In fact, value investing has become extremely necessary for investors with a global market focus given deflationary concerns in the Euro zone, Japan and the world’s second largest economy China. A recent boost to Japan’s already accommodative policies, QE talks in the Euro zone and expectations for further easing in Chinese monetary policy in the wake a prolonged downbeat business environment triggered the need for value investing in the foreign markets. So, it is almost certain that volatility will remain high in the coming months. In such a scenario, value products like IVAL should protect investors from market volatility. Notably, a value investing strategy gives investors exposure to stocks that are trading below their intrinsic values and are considered cheaper than other stocks. Value stocks usually have low price-to-earnings ratios, low price-to-book ratios and high dividend yields, as compared to their growth counterparts. Can it Succeed? The road ahead should not be easy for the newly launched fund as there are quite a number of funds already prevalent in the global value equities space. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex US Index Fund (NYSEARCA: VEU ) dominates the global equities ETF space with assets worth $12.0 billion. The fund has a value focus too with a dividend yield of 3.57% (as of December 18, 2014). The fund gives investors exposure to a basket of 2,460 stocks of more than 45 countries, from both developed and emerging markets around the world. The fund charges 15 basis points as fees. There are several other quality and value ETFs in the global equities space namely the FlexShares International Quality Dividend Index Fund (NYSEARCA: IQDF ) , FlexShares International Quality Dividend Defensive Index Fund (NYSEARCA: IQDE ) , MSCI International Quality Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA: QDXU ) , Cambria Global Value ETF (NYSEARCA: GVAL ) and lots more. Investors should note that IVAL is costlier than most of the well-known funds in this space. The product’s actively managed nature might have led to such hefty fees. So, to amass investors’ money in the long run, we believe that IVAL needs to sell its actively managed nature and methodical stock-selection technique, and show some level of outperformance when compared to ETFs built on relatively on relatively similar themes in this space that do not cost as much. Scalper1 News
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