Dodge and Cox International funds

20 Jan -Kiplinger- The Three Best International Funds

Many investors give foreign stocks short shrift. Here are three ways to fill out your portfolio. (note: My ROTH IRA investment with Dodge and Cox International is up 34% since Nov 2005. If you have cash , I would highly recommend that you open an account with Dodge and Cox International Funds before it closes. It is a value international fund with about 18% invested in emerging growth countries)


By Andrew Tanzer

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, January 2007

""Let's begin with a conclusion: You probably need to invest more heavily in overseas stocks. Economic growth in the U.S. will lag the world average in 2007. European companies are cutting costs, boosting productivity and selling at more-attractive share prices. Japan has emerged from hibernation. Emerging markets remain a potent long-term investment theme. "I firmly believe the opportunities are going to be outside the U.S. in 2007 and beyond," says Robert Froehlich, chief investment strategist for DWS Scudder. "The single biggest problem today for investors is too few foreign stocks."

But it's not just that growth prospects and values are more attractive abroad. You need to diversify your currency exposure. The growth in the government's debt load and the expansion of our trade deficit with other nations leaves the dollar vulnerable as a store of value.


How much should you devote to international stocks? Keeping 20% of your stock holdings in foreign names is a good minimum.

U.S. investors can easily buy into such powerful foreign companies as Nestle, Diageo and Novartis. But for most investors, international funds are the way to go. Three in particular we consider outstanding:

Dodge & Cox International Stock (DODFX; 800-621-3979). This relatively new (since 2001) offspring of a venerable fund family (see The Dodge & Cox Mystique, Nov.) has been rock-steady. Every year its returns put it in the upper 40% among broad-based foreign funds. And it ranks in the top 10% over five years. ""

For info:

http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/ar.../intfunds.html

23jan-kplinger-Dodge & Cox International Stock: Steady Excellence
The newest offering from this fund stalwart could help you build up your foreign holdings.

By Andrew Tanzer
January 22, 2007

""Fund management the Dodge & Cox way means subjecting portfolio companies and candidates to intensive, exhaustive research. When the San Francisco firm's analysts and fund managers studied U.S. corporations in the 1990s, they noticed that a growing share of their earnings was coming from abroad as a result of a globalizing world economy. So they began to spend time studying foreign companies to better understand their U.S. rivals. Out of this grew Dodge & Cox International Stock, launched in 2001.

This fund has been a roaring success. Dodge & Cox International has ranked within the top 30% of its international category in each of the past five years, gaining 21% annualized during that period, an average of seven percentage points per year ahead of its peers. International bears the hallmarks of the other Dodge & Cox funds: solid results, modest portfolio turnover and low fund expenses.

What you get with Dodge & Cox International is a nicely diversified fund containing some of the world's best businesses; for example, HSBC Holdings, Nokia, GlaxoSmithKline and Hitachi are among the fund's top ten positions. And here's the best news: unlike Dodge & Cox Stock and Balanced funds, International is still open to new investors.""

for info:

http://www.kiplinger.com//columns/fu...dwatch0122.htm

26feb-MARK HULBERT-Commentary: Another study confirms contrarian view of bull market

By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Feb 23, 2007

ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) -- The bull market in stocks is still alive, even if closer to its end than to its beginning.
That has been the conclusion reached for several months now by contrarian analysis, as reported several times in this column. See Feb. 13 column
For this column, I approached the question from a perspective entirely separate from contrarian analysis: What mutual funds currently are most popular among the newsletters with the best long-term records?
Interestingly, the picture painted by this list of most popular funds is largely consistent with that which has been painted by contrarian analysis.
To come up with a list of newsletters with the best long-term record, I focused on risk-adjusted performance over the last decade, as calculated by the Hulbert Financial Digest.


I focused on this long a period because I wanted to make sure that I would include neither bullish stopped clocks (and editors who thus looked like geniuses in the late 1990s) nor bearish stopped clocks (and editors who shined during the 2000-2002 bear market). Another factor in favor of using the trailing 10-year period to determine who are the best timers: The stock market's overall return over these 10 years (8.3% annualized, as measured by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index (97199001 :


It turns out there are just three mutual funds that are being recommended for purchase right now by more than two of the 15 newsletters with the best risk-adjusted performances over the past decade. They are:

* Dodge & Cox International Stock (DODFX :


* Vanguard GNMA (VFIIX :


* Vanguard Short Term Investment-Grade Bond (VFSTX :



Notice that none of these most popular funds invests in the U.S. stock market. Dodge & Cox International Stock is the only stock fund among the three, and it focuses on stocks outside the U.S.

for info:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...yhoo&dist=yhoo

24mar-A Look at Tax-Efficient Mutual Funds (note:Dodge-Cox International Fund)--Im already up 43% in Dodge Cox International Fund since Nov 2005--what a conservative international fund!!!--Ichiro)


By Rob Wherry |Rob Wherry Archive |Published: March 16, 2007


NOBODY LIKES TO write Uncle Sam a big check. That's why mutual-fund investors not only have to worry about low fees and poor performance but also a hidden aspect of their portfolio that can wind up being just as costly: capital-gains taxes.

Mutual funds are required to pass along profits in their portfolios to shareholders in the form of a capital-gains distribution, either at the end of a quarter, every six months or at the end of the year. (Your fund's annual report will outline the timing.) These payouts are taxed at standard capital-gains rates, so the trick for every manager has always been to balance the profits from selling winning stocks with offsetting losses of those that tanked. That way the average investor doesn't get hit with a large tax bill. (Of course, if you're investing in a tax-advantaged account like a company savings plan or an individual retirement account none of this will affect your standing.)

But even shareholders who invested in a brokerage account, for example, have been able to forget about capital gains the last few years. That's changing — quickly. Mutual funds are allowed to stockpile losses and carry them forward to the next year. Earlier this decade, a bear market enabled many managers to do just that. According to Lipper the average mutual fund paid out between 16 cents and 17 cents a share in 2002 and 2003. Since then, the stock market has gone on a roll (not including the last month, mind you), which means all the bear-market losses have pretty much dried up. Indeed, the average capital-gains distribution, according to Lipper, skyrocketed to $1.09 a share in 2006. "After expenses, taxes are the single-biggest detriment to a fund's returns," says Jim Hiles, a financial planner with wealth manager CBIZ.


Don't worry, though. There are top-performing funds that are low-cost in addition to being tax-friendly. For this week's SmartMoney fund screen, we used Lipper's tax-efficiency rating system. This tool allows us to measure how much of a fund's gains are left after Uncle Sam takes his cut. A "1" score means a fund was in the top 20% of its peer group when it came to keeping as much profits as possible. We limited our list to funds with a "2" or better. One caveat: The scores are derived by comparing funds in different classifications. Some fund categories are more tax efficient than others so the impact of a "2" can vary greatly depending on which group you are looking at. "Just because your fund says it's 'tax managed' doesn't make it a better fund," says Hiles. "Some of this is about marketing and [investors] need to be aware of that." Hiles doesn't like to invest in a fund that lost more than 1% of its annual gains to taxes. (If you use Morningstar to do your homework, that site has similar tools, including one that tries to anticipate a fund's payout.)

Tax efficiency and good returns can be a potent combination, so we demanded that this week's winners also have top-tier performance track records. Turnover was a big consideration, too. A manager that rapidly trades his portfolio, say 100% or 200% turnover a year, can easily trigger capital gains. That's too high for our taste.

Regular readers of this column will be familiar with many of the 37 funds that made our cut; they have appeared on several of our screens in the recent past. Excelsior Value & Restructuring (UMBIX: 54.53, +0.09, +0.2%) favors companies that are overhauling their operations. It hasn't paid out any capital gains over the last six years. James Equity (JALCX: 11.56, +0.02, +0.2%) uses around 200 financial criteria to pick stocks it thinks will rise in price over the next several years. It paid out a measly $41,000 last year thanks to a $1.8 million loss carry forward. Dodge & Cox International (DODFX: 45.84, -0.10, -0.2%) is one of the best foreign funds on the market. This $36 billion offering has an average annual return of 19.3% over the last five years, putting it in the top 12% of its peer group. The managers chalked up that performance with just a 9% turnover rate. In other words, they picked their winners and stuck by them.

info:
http://www.smartmoney.com/fundscreen...0316&afl=yahoo

6apr-A Look at Mutual Funds Over the Last Three Months (Dodge and Cox Internaitonal up 5% in last three months)

By Rob Wherry |Rob Wherry Archive |Published: March 29, 2007


While we would never make a recommendation based on such a short time period, it does pay to study quarterly performance to try to determine why funds like the Van Eck one did well — a few stocks increased more than 30% — while others like the iShares product faltered. (Chalk that up to concerns over a slowing housing market.) The idea is not to make knee-jerk decisions about one hot fund or another. Rather, you want to spot investing trends early, so you can reposition your portfolio before things get out of whack. So in this week's column we'll take a quick look back at 2007's first three months.

iOne of the more surprising stats coming out of the first quarter centered on Magellan (FMAGX: 93.28, +0.46, +0.5%), the storied $43 billion flagship fund at Fidelity. Manager Harry Lange has been struggling to return this ailing fund to its glory days when it continuously beat the broad market. Year-to-date through March 22, the fund returned 3.25%. Out of the largest 25 funds, only four were able to top Magellan's performance. Not to jinx him, but it looks like 2007 could be Lange's year. Dodge & Cox International Stock (DODFX: 46.75, +0.12, +0.3%) was the best-performing big fund with a 5% return over the last three months.

info:http://www.smartmoney.com/fundinsigh...0329&afl=yahoo

Morningstar.com--Are the 10 Hottest-Selling Mutual Funds Keepers or Dogs?
Monday June 25, 07. (My Dodge and Cox International is up 56% since Nov 05)
By Russel Kinnel

Last year I took a look at the hottest-selling funds and was encouraged to see that most of them were good choices. Things weren't always that way. Go back to 1999 and investors couldn't get enough tripe.

A
Dodge & Cox International Stock (NASDAQ:DODFX - News)
As someone who bought this fund soon after it was launched, I'd like to say this to the legions of people considering buying the fund: Stay out of my fund! Alas, I have to admit this is an outstanding fund, though I doubt the next 10 years will produce annualized returns to match those from the past five years because that would require 10 more years of rallying stocks and a plummeting dollar. It's mighty rare for that to happen. So, if you have modest expectations and a long-term time horizon, this is a fine investment. I'm not expecting the fund to close anytime soon either. Dodge doesn't have big separate accounts matching this strategy the way it does its domestic-stock fund, so it might even let this fund go beyond the asset level at which Dodge & Cox Stock (NASDAQ:DODGX - News) closed to new investment.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/070625/197095.html?.v=3

29jul 07
Morningstar.com-The First Half in International Funds 2007
Tuesday July 3, 7:00 am ET
By Gregg Wolper ( (I added more of my ROTH $$$ to my DODFX last week when the market tumbled and will add more this week if the market falls further. What an opportunity buy at such cheap prices... It is like a big sale at Walmart...I am sure that Mr. Buffet and even Mr. Winters of the Wintergreen funds will be adding to their position...)))...

The first half of 2007 saw its share of tumult. Rising interest rates and the U.S. subprime loan crisis have roiled markets, and an exciting presidential election in France gained the world's attention, with one of the candidates promising to take the economy sharply to the left. Stock markets around the world fell sharply in late February and early March.

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At the end of the June, though, what is most surprising is that the trends in 2007's first half on the international front are so similar to the trends for 2006. However, when we look at specific funds, we find that some noteworthy changes do add color to the picture.

The First Half in Global Markets
Once again, emerging markets have led the way. Latin American stock markets--which to a large extent means Brazil and Mexico--have had powerful returns, and so have many countries in emerging Asia. Even China's market continues to soar, despite government actions specifically designed to rein it in.

About the only difference in emerging markets relative to last year is that Russia and India, which both posted extremely strong gains in 2006, have slowed in 2007. In fact, this year they lag just about all the other emerging markets and most developed markets as well (though India's returns look more respectable in U.S. dollar terms.) In Russia, falling energy prices (at times) and concerns over the presidential succession weighed on stocks. In India, rising interest rates took the blame.

The first half of this year also echoed 2006 in the big European markets. Most of Western Europe's markets remained strong, and a slight gain in the euro versus the U.S. dollar (another continuation of a 2006 trend) added a further boost to returns from all those U.S-based foreign funds that don't hedge much or any of their currency exposure (in other words, nearly all of them).

By contrast, Japan's market has lagged again, just as it did in 2006. And its currency hasn't been any more popular. In fact, amid all the talk about the weak dollar, one can forget that the dollar actually gained against the yen in 2007's first half. Although the Japanese economy is showing encouraging signs, some investors still aren't fully convinced. A more specific problem--if one can call it that--is that takeovers are much more difficult to pull off in Japan. So the "takeover premium" that has pushed up so many stock prices in Europe and the United States is much less common in the Japanese market. Japanese small caps have been particularly weak.

The First Half in the Fund Categories
Among the broad foreign-stock style-box categories, we see another repeat of 2006. The smaller-stock-focused groups are again in front: The foreign small/mid-growth category has posted the biggest gain, with a 14.0% average return through June 28, with the foreign small/mid-value category a couple of percentage points behind. The foreign large-growth, large-blend, and large-value categories haven't been quite as strong, but they're showing healthy gains as well. What's most noteworthy about the large-cap groups is the lack of divergence between the three different style categories: All have posted returns right around 10%.

As for the more specialized categories, there are no surprises given the overall trends discussed above. The Latin America and Pacific ex-Japan groups have each racked up astounding half-year gains of greater than 20%, with the diversified emerging markets group in the midteens. Only the Japan category, with a basically flat first half, hasn't posted strong gains.

Aside from the big gains posted by emerging-markets funds, on the performance front another familiar trend took shape: single-country funds showing up at the top and bottom of the charts. Propelled partly by a strong Canadian dollar--which rose even more than the euro in the first half--Fidelity Canada (NASDAQ:FICDX - News) racked up a near-20% gain, while a number of Japan funds were in negative territory.

Fund News from the First Half
Meanwhile, several industry trends firmly established in 2006 also stayed in place. International funds continued to be big sellers in comparison to those that focus solely on the United States. Through May, in fact, the top three funds on the list of funds with the most net inflows were all international and were all familiar names: Dodge & Cox International Stock (NASDAQ:DODFX - News), American Funds Capital Income Builder (NASDAQ:CAIBX - News), and American Funds Capital World Growth & Income (NASDAQ:CWGIX - News).

http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/070703/197735.html?.v=1

Morningstar.com-Three Funds for Worry-Free Investing
Thursday September 20, 7:00 am ET
By Russel Kinnel

This article originally appeared in Kiplinger's.

So, you're going to travel the Silk Road for 10 years or hang out on a South Pacific island, and you need to get your portfolio in order before you go. If you could buy only three mutual funds, you'd want ones with enough stability that you could depend on their being well managed while you're away. If I were you, I'd look for firms whose analysts and managers stay their whole careers. I'd also look for low costs and good stewardship--two other things that can work to an investor's advantage year in and year out. Here's where I'd sock my money. (In case you're wondering, I do in fact own all three of these funds, although I don't plan on being out of town for more than a few weeks.)


Dodge & Cox International Stock (NASDAQ:DODFX - News)
I know, I know. Talk about obvious. Dodge & Cox International is the best-selling fund so far in 2007. It feels kind of creepy for a contrarian like me to be running with the crowd, but I dare you to name a better foreign fund--one with lower costs, more-stable management, and a better strategy. Almost all of Dodge's professionals stay for their whole careers, and that stability has enabled Dodge to do a terrific job picking stocks. Other funds just don't have the same smarts and experience. Also, Dodge is wonderfully risk-averse and shareholder-oriented. If there's a bear market when you're away--and I wouldn't be surprised, given how hot foreign markets have been--I'm confident that you'll still have more money after 10 years than you put in.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/070920/206286.html?.v=2

5 Funds to See You Through Retirement
By Rob Wherry |Rob Wherry Archive |Published: September 27, 2007
Fund Compare

((During the recent drop in the world stock market, I added more funds to my Dodge and Cox International funds (DOFX) for my ROTH iRA funds and I made a quick nine percent profit. DODFX is a conservative international fund and it will do well in these type of unstable market. I will continue to add more funds to my Wintergreen, DODFX, VEU and VO as the market drop. It is like a double sales at WALMART)).


AFTER 28 YEARS in the financial services industry, Ernest Hathaway has seen just about every oddball method people use to save for retirement. There was the client who invested most of his wealth in a single oil company stock — an extremely risky proposition to say the least. Another one came into Hathaway's office holding a spreadsheet that contained information on an astounding 71 funds that were in his portfolio, the best performers listed at the top. The man had based every purchase solely on returns. "People can go to extremes," says Hathaway, who co-founded investment firm Financial Services Institute just outside Salt Lake City. While both moves may have been well intentioned, he says "none of that is very prudent."


International
About 20% of our equity portfolio will be earmarked for stocks that are located overseas. International stocks can be an excellent hedge against poor performance here in the U.S. Indeed, that has certainly been the case over the last five years. Lipper's international fund categories have posted better numbers than its domestic equity categories. While those returns may not last, your exposure to the stocks that produced them should.

Our experts were fine using an index product for domestic equity exposure, but when it came to international they felt it was worth paying up for an active manager who could exploit all the inefficiencies of the world's stock markets. Our pick here is Dodge & Cox International (DODFX). This fund's nine managers search for companies with good managements, a strong competitive foothold and decent future growth prospects. It has 20% of its assets in Japan, 16% in the United Kingdom and 9% in France, with the rest spread out in countries like Germany and Switzerland. Top holdings include Nokia (NOK), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Honda (HMC). It's in the top 4% of its Morningstar category over the last five years. It also features below average costs and turnover. Plain and simple, says Joseph Birkofer of Legacy Asset Management in Houston, "it's an excellent fund." One worry: A rapidly growing asset base could impact performance.

http://www.smartmoney.com/fundinsigh...=yahoo&pgnum=1

I've been in this fund for 2 years and it's a great fund, for international investing.

Morningstar.com
Are You Getting In on the Emerging-Markets Action?
Tuesday October 16, 7:00 am ET
By Gregg Wolper

((DODFX is a very conservative International Fund with a 15% exposure to the emerging market. I will keep this mutual fund along with my Wintergreen Fund for the next several decades earning a reasonable return on investment without taking too much risk. ))



Most international funds have owned stakes in emerging markets for years--around 8% or 10% for a large-cap fund is the norm. The managers don't even have to be very adventurous to get there--own some shares in CVRD and a couple of generic-drug giants and that alone could get a fund over the 5% mark. And a fund doesn't have to be one that's considered aggressive, either, to take this tack. Dodge & Cox, for example, is certainly not known as a daring risk-taker, but Dodge & Cox International (NASDAQ:DODFX - News) has 17% of its assets in emerging markets. One of the managers, Diana Strandberg, says the growth rates in those markets are so impressive one has to favor them as long as one can find a great company at a compelling valuation there.

But Strandberg doesn't stop there. She also emphasizes that her fund's 17% figure doesn't fully capture the fund's exposure to emerging-markets growth. Even many of the companies in the portfolio from Western Europe or Japan, she says, were bought specifically because they do so much of their business in emerging markets. She mentions U.K. bank Standard Chartered as one example and Honda Motors (NYSE:HMC - News) as another.


http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/071016/209884.html?.v=1