# International ETF Exposure VDU vs XEF vs VXC



## arc (May 19, 2012)

In terms of picking an ETF for international exposure what do you recommend? time horizon of 4-8 years.

iShares MSCI EAFE IMI	XEF
Vanguard FTSE Developed ex North America	VDU
Vanguard ex Canada VXC 

Thanks


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

All great choices 

All low-costs. Hard to go wrong with any one of the above for diversification.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

VXC is not the same as VDU and XEF. The latter two cover Europe and the Far East where VXC covers the world outside Canada. One wouldn't pick VXC if one had the USA and Emerging Markets covered off separately.


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## arc (May 19, 2012)

it looks to me like the current pricing for all 3 of these ETFs are rather high. How do I determine whether it is cheap? Is there a measure similar to P/E for stocks?


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

arc said:


> it looks to me like the current pricing for all 3 of these ETFs are rather high. How do I determine whether it is cheap? Is there a measure similar to P/E for stocks?


They are only high if the markets they represent (by indices) are high. Look at the underlying indexes for their P/E - which is what these ETFs will represent on a weighted average basis, or it is possible the sponsor of each ETF will list the P/E for their ETF on their fund facts sheet.


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

Reading through Rob Carrick's ETF Global Buying Guide in yesterdays G&M and don't see VXC listed. Anyone have thoughts on why?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...rket-funds-take-centre-stage/article23673056/


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## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

Agreed. 

I'm also perplexed by the exclusion of Vanguard's FTSE All-World ex Canada Index ETF (VXC).

I think VXC is a nice one stop ETF for many Canadians as it includes both developed and emerging markets. 
It also has a small *0.25%* MER.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

iShares XAW is similar to VXC but with a slightly lower MER of 0.20%.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

arc said:


> it looks to me like the current pricing for all 3 of these ETFs are rather high. How do I determine whether it is cheap? Is there a measure similar to P/E for stocks?


As per TDW, VSC has P/E = 17


> One wouldn't pick VXC if one had the USA and Emerging Markets covered off separately.


 Agree. In this case I'd rather buy VGK or VEA (depends if you want exposure only to Europe or also for Pacific).
Both VEA and VGK has much lower MER than VSC ... also every underlying ETF of VXC has much higher yield than VXC itself...
Both VEA and VGK current prices exactly in the middle of 52 weeks high/low
Generally I don't like hedged products ... for example , if you hold it in registered account, dividend witholding tax is unrecoverable. 


> the underlying stocks are denominated in a basket of overseas currencies. Therefore, the strength or weakness of the US dollar has no effect on the return that international equity ETFs deliver to Canadians.


http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2011/04/04/currency-hedging-in-international-funds/


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## Shekelstein (Jun 7, 2015)

I believe 0.20% is the management fee not the MER. XAW hasn't been around for a whole year yet


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

I would pick Vanguard VIU over the ETF's you listed.

More tax optimized than VXC and VDU
More diversified than XEF


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