Foreign equities have done well in 2025, and it makes sense why — many U.S. investors have looked to zig when U.S. stocks have zagged. That helped foreign equities ETFs spike in the late spring and early summer period. Now, looking at fall just around the corner, investors may need a wrinkle or two to get similar foreign equities performance. Value foreign equities ETFs have performed well in the last few weeks and could be poised for continued positivity to end the year.
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A value foreign equities combo has a few solid trends going for it. Starting off, it’s worth asking about value prospects right now writ large. Take the Russell 1000 (RUI) and Russell 1000 Value (RLV) indexes. Russell’s value index has significantly trailed RUI over the last three years, per YCharts total return data. On a YTD basis, however, the two have performed within 100 basis points of each other.
Value Foreign Equities ETFs to End 2025
Looking forward, value could be poised for continued performance and even outperformance. With key earnings data arriving in the next few weeks, and economic uncertainty in growth areas like AI tech looming, more value-oriented stocks may be poised to outperform.
That said, economic challenges in the U.S., while highlighting value, would also negatively impact value categories. That’s where foreign equities come in. By leaning on managerial expertise and research, value foreign equities strategies can find undervalued names in foreign markets where information may be scarcer for U.S. investors.
Avantis Investors’ duo of value foreign equities ETFs provide a strong pair of options therein. The Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF (AVIV ) and the Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF (AVDV ) have performed well so far in 2025. AVIV has returned 28.9% YTD, per ETF Database, while AVDV has returned 32% in that time. Those metrics outperformed both funds’ ETF Database Category averages.
AVDV charges a 36 bps fee for its approach. The value foreign equities ETF actively invests in ex-U.S. small-cap value equities. Its managers actively invest according to fundamental criteria like cash flow, revenues, and price-to-book value. AVIV, meanwhile, charges a 25 bps fee for a similar active approach that focuses on large-caps.
Together, the strategies could provide a solid end of the year. According to YCharts data, both ETFs’ prices sit above their 50- and 200-day simple moving averages, with both sending a buy signal. For those looking at ways to get more juice from foreign equities, foreign equities value ETFs can help.
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