The Global Ex-U.S. Size & Style channel is the primary gateway for navigating broad equity strategies outside of the United States. International investing introduces unique layers of complexity—including regional shifts, country-specific risks, and emerging market dynamics. This channel provides the framework to segment these diverse markets into precise, actionable investment blocks.
At ETF Action, we move beyond simple labels. This channel is powered by a multi-faceted classification system designed to provide transparency into how every international strategy is built and managed. While our foundational architecture is consistent across all channels, the fields here are specifically tailored to the nuances of the Global Ex-U.S. universe.
The “What”: Defining the Sandbox
Global Ex-U.S. Size & Style ETFs focus on broad segments of the international equity markets. Unlike sector, thematic, or single-country funds, these strategies are designed to provide diversified exposure to the non-U.S. market based on market capitalization and investment style.
Note: This channel is dedicated to broad-based strategies (e.g., Developed Markets, Emerging Markets, or Global Ex-U.S.). Funds that target a specific region (e.g., Europe only) or a single country (e.g., Japan only) are located in their own dedicated channel.
The “How”: Three Paths to Navigation
While our tools allow you to filter, group, or sort by any field to align with your own proprietary process, we generally see users navigate the international channel through three primary paths:
Path 1: Traditional Size & Style (The Broad Categories)
For investors looking for standard building blocks, the Category filter is your primary tool. This groups funds into traditional buckets like Foreign Large Value, Foreign Small/Mid Blend, or Emerging Markets.
- The Reality of the Grid: Traditional international categories are essential for institutional benchmarking and creating clean datasets. However, because international managers often have high flexibility regarding market and capitalization weights, many funds do not align neatly with standard groupings.
- Use Case: Building an international core allocation or benchmarking a developed markets manager against their style-specific peer group.
Path 2: Advanced Factors (Market, Segment, Strategy & Selection)
For those seeking more specific solutions, we recommend starting with the Market (Development) and Segment to define your universe, then applying Strategy and Selection filters.
1. Define Your Universe (Market & Segment) International investing usually begins with an economic and capitalization decision:
- Market (Development): Highlighting the broad economic scope. This includes Global Ex-U.S. (broad exposure to both), Dev Ex-U.S. (Developed only), and Emerging (Emerging only).
- Segment: We use broad groupings to solve for overlapping cap-size mandates:
- Total Market: Captures strategies focusing across all market capitalizations.
- Extended Market: Groups international Mid and Small cap strategies together.
2. Identify the Objective (Strategy & Selection)
- Strategy: The broadest grouping: Beta, Factor, Tactical, or Specialty.
- Selection: Refines the Strategy to show the specific investment driver (e.g., Dividends, Quality, Value, Low Volatility, Cash Toggle, or Hedged Equity).
Path 3: Strategy Isolation (The Technical Filters)
Once you have defined your broad sandbox, use our secondary classification fields to isolate specific types of strategies:
- Group: Identify unique structural exposures such as Ex-China strategies, Ex-SOEs (State-Owned Enterprises), or Recent IPOs.
- Discipline: Filter for Active vs. Passive to see which international managers are successfully generating alpha in less efficient markets.
- Implementation: Distinguish between standard Market Cap weighting and Equal Weighted or proprietary Scored methodologies.
- ESG Flag: Quickly identify funds with a stated objective to screen for Environmental, Social, or Governance criteria.
Your Process, Your Navigator
The real power of the ETF Action classification system is its flexibility in how you consume complex international data. You can interact with the data in two primary ways:
- Specific Database Searches (Filtering): Use the filtering pane to isolate a “qualified shortlist.” Example: Filter for Market (Development): Emerging and Group: Ex-China.
- Broad Navigation & Monitoring (Grouping): Use the Navigator tool to build custom dashboards. You can Filter on a broad field and then Group by another to see aggregated stats and flows.
Proprietary Benchmarking & ETF Proxies Every custom view remains anchored by our proprietary benchmarking. To ensure these tools remain accessible and free for our users, we utilize ETF Proxies rather than expensive licensed indices:
- Risk Benchmark: We use ACWX (ACWI Ex-U.S.) as the universal yardstick for international risk.
- Beta Trackers (Best Fit): Each category is paired with the most relevant proxy for immediate characteristic and performance comparison:
- Global Ex-U.S. (International): ACWX
- Dev Ex-U.S. Large Cap: EFA (Blend), EFV (Value), EFG (Growth)
- Dev Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap: SCZ
- Emerging Large Cap: EEM
- Emerging Small | Mid Cap: EEMS
Ready to start screening?
Our powerful Navigator and international classification tools are available on our gated platform. Create a FREE account today to access the Global Ex-U.S. channel and start building your own custom dashboards.