The End for Non-U.S. Equities?

February 04, 2015 | David Hernandez, CFA, Associate Director

Since 2009, the S&P 500 has been on a historic run with six straight calendar years of positive performance, producing an annualized return of 17.2%. Meanwhile, the MSCI EAFE index has failed to keep pace during the same time period, thus leaving many investors to question their non-U.S. equity allocations. This week’s chart examines the historical performance of these two indices over the last thirty plus years.

Since October 1982 the S&P 500 and MSCI EAFE have taken turns as the leader, each going on significant bullish runs. Between 2000 and 2007, international equities (7.7%) outperformed domestic stocks (1.4%). Since then, the S&P 500 has returned the favor, beating by nearly 7% on an annualized basis. The data shows that long periods of outperformance have been a common occurrence for both indices. However, this does not assure the imminent resurgence of international equities since past performance does not guarantee future results. Similarly, investors should note that the recent run by U.S. stocks does not mark the end for non-U.S. equities.