International Equities Q4 2021
0International Equities Q4 2021 By William H. Witherell, Ph.D. The recovery was fueled by massive emergency fiscal support by governments, together with very easy monetary policy by most central banks, keeping interest rates low. An unexpected slowdown in China in the second half, resulting from COVID outbreaks, restrictive government actions affecting the technology and internet sectors, and financial problems in the important real estate sector hit earlier high-flying Chinese equities, with the MSCI China Index down 21.3% year-to-date December 17 th . Our International and Global Equity ETF Portfolios are close to fully invested, with a focus on advanced economy markets in Europe, Asia, and Canada. Despite the global wave of Omicron-fueled COVID cases that is now weakening consumer sentiment and, less so, business sentiment, economic growth is expected to gather momentum next year following a slow first quarter. There is likely to continue to be great variation among the recovery paths of countries and the performance of individual national equity markets.