International stocks are the best trade for the next five years, according to Bank of America investor survey
Investors are really pumped about the future of international stocks. Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey showed investors expect equities outside the United States will prove the best-performing asset class over the next five years. “Less than [one quarter] think U.S. assets will continue to dominate ranked returns, and just 5% anticipate bonds to perform best,” strategist Michael Hartnett wrote. The rest of the world is trouncing the U.S. stock market this year. The iShares MSCI All-Country World Index ex-U.S. ETF ( ACWX ) is up 15% in 2025, far outpacing the S & P 500’s 2.6% advance. That marks the ACWX’s largest outperformance over the S & P 500 since the fund’s inception in 2008. This comes as positioning in the U.S. dollar reached lows not seen in more than 20 years. ACWX .SPX YTD mountain ACWX vs SPX in 2025 Investors have been pulling away from the dollar this year as many of President Donald Trump’s policies, particularly on trade, put the U.S. currency’s safe-haven status into question. Trump earlier this year unveiled steep tariffs on imported goods, many of which were later halted for 90 days while the U.S. entered into trade negotiations with leading partners. Along with heightened tensions in the Middle East and Europe, that’s led investors to load up on gold. Hartnett noted that “‘long gold’ is the most crowded trade for the third month running (per 41% of investors), confirming that the 24-month streak for ‘long Magnificent 7’ (now 23%) as most crowded trade has come to an end.” Investors surveyed also rotated more into emerging markets and global equities in June, Hartnett added. “In June, investors are most overweight Eurozone, EM, and banks vs most underweight U.S. stocks, the U.S. dollar, and energy,” he said. Elsewhere Tuesday morning on Wall Street, Truist lifted its price target on Etsy by 9%, to $60 from $55, implying about 11% upside compared with Monday’s closing price, saying investors should buy the dip in the stock. “While the company does have exposure to the De Minimis exemption being eliminated in China, we believe it’s relatively better insulated than some of its competitors including Temu (owned by PDD, [not rated]) and Shein (private) which have started raising prices on goods as a result of the Chinese Tariffs, and the end of the De Minimis exemption,” analyst Youssef Squali wrote.
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