IQ 500 International ETF's Average Process Pillar and People Pillar ratings result in a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the cheapest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy receives an Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an underweight position in yield exposure and an overweight in volatility exposure compared with category peers. Low yield exposure is attributed to holding fewer stocks with high dividend or buyback yields -- instead, typically holding companies with a stronger focus on growth opposed to returning capital. And high volatility exposure is rooted in stocks that have a higher standard deviation of returns. The team managing the passive strategy earns the strategy an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating, and this rating is inherited from vehicles belonging to the same branding entity and is indirectly assigned by an analyst.

Analyst Rating

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Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. IQ 500 International ETF earns an Average Process Pillar rating. The most significant contributor to the rating is that this fund tracks an index. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. The firm's five-year retention rate of 87% also contributes to the process. Lastly, the process is limited by the fund's weak long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category average, which suggests that the process has struggled over that period.

The investment strategy as stated in the fund's prospectus is:  The investment seeks investment results that track (before fees and expenses) generally to the price and yield performance of its underlying index, the IQ 500 International Index (the "underlying index").  The fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, and in the investments included in its underlying index ("underlying index components"). The underlying index consists of a number of underlying index components selected in accordance with IndexIQ's rules-based methodology. Such underlying index components will include primarily non-U.S. equity securities. 

 The portfolio is overweight in industrials and consumer cyclical relative to the category average by 9.0 and 3.2 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are financial services and healthcare, underweight the average by 12.1 and 3.3 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is positioned across 507 holdings and its assets are more dispersed than peers in the category. In particular, 10.8% of the portfolio's assets are concentrated in the top 10 fund holdings, compared to the category’s 13.9% average. And in closing, in terms of portfolio turnover, looking at year-over-year movements, 20% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Average

Process

New York Life’s team receives An Average People Pillar rating. The main contributor to the rating is the firm's five-year retention rate of 87%. A low cost, with fees that rank in its category's cheapest fifth, also strengthens the rating. Fees detract from net returns, so the managers have a lower expense hurdle to overcome. Lastly, the rating is limited by the parent firm's five-year success ratio of 44%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median return for the period. The parent's subpar success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup.

People

New York Life Investments' collection of autonomous investment boutiques will have a new leader in May 2023, and it will take time to assess his impact. The firm keeps its Average Parent rating.
New York Life, the insurance giant that owns NYL Investments, tapped Naïm Abou-Jaoudé to be the asset manager's CEO after the previous CEO departed. Abou-Jaoudé inherits a firm that has grown by building internally and through acquisition. The firm offers mandates in partnership with 13 different asset managers--eight of which are wholly or partially owned affiliates – through several global outlets. Most U.S. funds fall under the established MainStay brand, whereas IndexIQ oversees a growing lineup of ETFs managed both internally and by other affiliates. Candriam, at which Abou-Jaoudé has been CEO even prior to its 2014 acquisition by NYL Investments, takes the lead in Europe through its own offerings and through those subadvised by other boutiques.
Plenty of these capabilities are compelling, with Candriam and fellow affiliates MacKay Shields and Ausbil sporting standout teams in several wheelhouses. Yet many of the boutiques have also struggled with managing bloated lineups or with improving lagging teams. NYL Investments hasn't shied from changing subadvisors or merging platforms and doesn't have a spotless record of managing capacity or of avoiding trendy offerings.

Parent

IQ 500 International ETF

IQIN tracks an index of developed market ex-US stocks. The index uses fundamental factors for selection and weighting.

IQ FTSE International Equity Currency Neutral ETF

The recent U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will impact geopolitical considerations in U.S. foreign policy and national security strategy, particularly with our global neighbors from China, Russia, Iran, and the European Union. In the upcoming webcast, Geopolitical Risks That Could Potentially Impact Portfolios In 2022, John Sitilides, Principal, Trilogy Advisors; and Lauren Goodwin, Portfolio Strategist, New [.

Geopolitical Risks That Could Potentially Impact Portfolios In 2022

The global re-opening can give international investors renewed exposure to economies abroad for the purpose of diversification. One exchange traded fund (ETF) worth considering is the IQ 500 International ETF (IQIN).

Reap the Benefits of the Re-Opening with the IQIN ETF

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Developed-market (DM) household savings recorded a significant gain last year, with an increase equivalent to 10% of combined gross domestic product (GDP). This build-up is likely to bolster consumption as restrictions on economic and social activity are removed and pent-up demand unlocked.

Will Household Savings Provide An Upside Growth Surprise?

Exchange traded fund investors should consider the importance of a geopolitical framework for investing to help one better understand what these geopolitical shifts mean for investment portfolios. In the recent webcast, Geopolitical Risk: Elections, Lockdowns, and Continual Disruptions, John Sitilides, Geopolitical Strategist, Trilogy Advisors, noted that while the U.S. election has consumed our attention, it [.

News for IQ 500 International ETF ETF (IQIN)