(Hollywood, Fla.) International-stock funds have been outpacing their U.S. counterparts in early 2010, as they did in 2009.
According to Morningstar, some $576 million flowed into international-stock funds in May, when $4.7 billion went out of U.S.-equity funds. In the first five months of this year, positive flows into international-stock funds total $6.5 billion vs. outflows of $4.6 billion for U.S.-stock funds.
One fund family that looks under the hood of international equities is U.S. Global Investors, which has a China Region Fund (USCOX), Eastern European Fund (EUROX) and a Global Mega-Trend Fund (MEGAX) among its 13 no-load offerings.
In his latest notes to investors, U.S. Global CEO and CIO Frank Holmes points out that China’s exports grew nearly 50 percent year over year in May and close to 10 percent vs. April. The trade surplus widened to $19.5 billion, the biggest amount in seven months.
In addition, China’s retail sales grew higher than expected, roughly 19 percent year over year in May in nominal terms and 15 percent in real terms, thanks to stable employment, income growth and consumption upgrades.
U.S. Global also notes that Russia’s domestic sectors have “proven resilient during the recent market downturn.”
Such macro-economic factors support the overview on emerging-market investing made by global strategist Jack Dzierwa and senior analyst Michael Ding at the Pershing Insite 2010 conference in Hollywood, Fla. The two experts spoke to the confab audience on June 11.