International equity ETF options (IXUS, IDEV, IEMG)

[ramaj]

I currently split my allocation to international equities between iShares Core MSCI International Developed Mkt ETF (IDEV) and iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), roughly 70/30. I want to swap these for iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF (IXUS) to make my life simpler. Would i get access to the same number of markets with IXUS vs IDEV/IEMG combo? Also, I presume IXUS is market cap weighted so China and South Korea for example will continue to move up the list in terms of weighting as their economies and stock markets grow? If I am missing something in terms of the advantage of holding IDEV / IEMG instead of IXUS, please feel free to chime in! Thanks!

[000]

I don't see any problem simplifying down to just IXUS. In fact I am considering doing something similar.

[annu]

Looking at IDEV, IEMG and IXUS, looks like below

Total number of companies: 2171, 2513, 4303


Country holdings

1 Japan 23.28% China 36.48% Japan 16.11% —
2 United Kingdom 13.34% Taiwan 14.41% China 11.20% —
3 Canada 9.28% South Korea 13.58% United Kingdom 9.24% —
4 France 8.39% India 10.07% Canada 6.45% —
5 Switzerland 8.02% Brazil 4.44% France 5.83%

Looks like merging you will lose maybe some small caps, but overall looks like a good move

[MotoTrojan]

Looks like merging you will lose maybe some small caps, but overall looks like a good move

IXUS as well as VXUS both have small-cap exposure and are my preferred Total International options (VEU for example excludes small-caps). Will you lose a few tiny holdings by combining? Yes. Will you notice the exposure change? No.

[ruralavalon]

iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Mkt ETF (ITOT) includes small-cap, the Morningstar style box is:
18/28/27 -- large-cap
05/09/05 -- mid-cap
03/04/02 -- small-cap

[ramaj]

Excellent analysis, thanks. IXUS is market cap weighted so I presume China may eventually become the largest component of this ETF?

[ruralavalon]

Excellent analysis, thanks. IXUS is market cap weighted so I presume China may eventually become the largest component of this ETF?

I would not assume that. iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is currently about 11% China.

The Morningstar style box for iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is:
23/32/22 -- large-cap
06/08/05 -- mid-cap
01/02/01 -- small-cap

[ramaj]

Excellent analysis, thanks. IXUS is market cap weighted so I presume China may eventually become the largest component of this ETF?

I would not assume that. iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is currently about 11% China.

The Morningstar style box for iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is:
23/32/22 -- large-cap
06/08/05 -- mid-cap
01/02/01 -- small-cap

But then how is the country weighting determined? Is it managed or is it based on market capitalization?

[ruralavalon]

Excellent analysis, thanks. IXUS is market cap weighted so I presume China may eventually become the largest component of this ETF?

I would not assume that. iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is currently about 11% China.

The Morningstar style box for iShares Core MSCI Total Intl Stk ETF (IXUS) is:
23/32/22 -- large-cap
06/08/05 -- mid-cap
01/02/01 -- small-cap

But then how is the country weighting determined? Is it managed or is it based on market capitalization?

"The investment seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI composed of large-, mid- and small-capitalization non-U.S. equities. . . . . . The index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure the combined equity market performance of developed and emerging markets countries, excluding the United States."
link.