When you travel abroad, a guide makes all the difference. A good one helps you navigate with confidence; a bad one leaves you lost, wishing you’d stayed home.
Investing overseas isn’t much different. Index funds will get you there, but I prefer traveling with a seasoned local guide—an active manager. The challenge is that not every manager earns their fee, and at Vanguard, most funds rely on multiple guides, which can lead to more noise than insight.
That’s why I’ve done the legwork for you. After reviewing Vanguard’s lineup of actively managed international stock funds, I’ve narrowed the field to two standouts that are worth your ticket abroad.
Additional reading:
- A few basic definitions for overseas investing.
- The case for and against holding foreign stock funds at all—here.
- A two-part series on currency hedging—one for bond investors and one for stock investors.
- Deep dives into Vanguard’s global stock funds and foreign stock index funds.
From here, let’s set aside the metaphors and get practical. In this article, I’ll zero in on Vanguard’s actively managed foreign stock funds and explain why two rise above the rest.