International stocks are off to a turbulent start to the new decade, as global stocks excluding the U.S. (VEU) suffered a -3% decline in January on escalating coronavirus fears while S&P 500 (SPY) eked out a flat performance. Meanwhile, iShares International Dividend ETF (IDV) dropped a relatively shallow -1.5%, continuing its recent trend of outperformance vs. its international ETF peers:
Source: WingCapital Investments
IDV's relative strength this year can be attributed to its virtually zero exposure to Asia markets, which have been most devastated by the viral outbreak notably