Show Notes
Episode 31: You need to invest in emerging markets if you want a globally diversified portfolio, right? That may seem like an obvious choice considering emerging markets account for roughly 12% of the world's equity market capitalization. But it's easy to understand why many investors might say no to emerging markets. Uneven returns tell the story. From 2015 through 2024, the broad US stock market gained an annualized +12.6% while international developed markets added +7.7%. Emerging markets? A measly +3.6%. Then came 2025. As concerns mounted about the seemingly high relative prices of US stocks and the decline of the US dollar against other currencies, emerging markets returned +31.4%, almost doubling the return of the US market. Any investor who had shunned emerging markets probably regretted their lack of wanderlust. This evidence suggests that a longer-term lens is critical when evaluating opportunities in emerging markets. A broad view is helpful, too. Emerging markets comprise more than 20 countries, including large economies like Brazil, China, and South Korea as well as tiny ones like Colombia and Indonesia. But predicting which ones will deliver outsize (or undersize) returns is impossible. In 2025, Colombia was the top gainer at +112% while Indonesia, at –2.8%, brought up the rear. In 2024, it was Taiwan (+34.4%) and Egypt (–31.2%). And the leaders and laggards were also different in 2023, 2022, and 2021. Based on the difference between the highest and lowest average returns in emerging markets from 2005 through 2025, it's fair to say they are more volatile than developed markets. Which may scare some investors. But ignoring emerging markets means avoiding opportunities to offset weak performance in one market with stronger returns elsewhere. In Episode 31 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Rob Harvey, Co-Head of Product Specialists, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, survey the emerging markets landscape and lay out what investors should look for through their viewfinders. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment; therefore, their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Risks include loss of principal and fluctuating value. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of market loss. Sources: Frank Russell Company is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes; MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&si=0mJiRGEkZqYosieU The Informed Investor, Episode 2, "Should You Invest Outside the US" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiL0GM01bg&list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&index=30&pp=iAQB Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Rob Harvey on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/robkharvey/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/
More from The Informed Investor
Episode 62: Happy Halloween—or is it? At this moment, some investors are probably chewing their fingernails down to nubs as they try to digest the latest frightening financial headlines. "Are Global Stock Markets Headed for a Crash?" "The American Dream of Owning a Home Is Out of Reach for Many as Mortgage Rates Soar (Again)" "The US Debt Tops a Record-Shattering $40 Trillion. Yes, with a T." Eek!! Those are actual headlines from recent articles in the financial media (and just a small sample). Hundreds more are just waiting to scare the bejabbers out of you. But as an investor, if you're worried about the current state of the stock and bond markets, the economy, or the latest geopolitical hot spots, headlines are the last place to look for reassurance. Many, if not most, are designed to make you afraid. The facts, on the other hand, will often do just the opposite. In Episode 62, a special Halloween episode of The Informed Investor podcast, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, dress up … and then dress down the headline writers of America to help investors deflate the fear factor. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: "Stay Calm: Learn to Embrace Uncertainty in Investing and Life" Order the new book by Dimensional Founder David Booth https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GPDHGH8K/?maas=maas_adg_2F97289929AB0BA26D806A1F81D55D66_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Subscribe to the Stay Calm Investing Newsletter https://www.staycalminvesting.com/newsletter?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor For US audiences: Select videos are available as part of an opportunity for CFP® and Investments & Wealth Institute® professionals to earn continuing education (CE) credits https://www.dimensional.com/financial-professionals/ce-credit-experience-d360?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor "The Informed Investor" on YouTube The Informed Investor - YouTube Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
Episode 61: The allure of index funds, such as broad diversification, low costs, and market-matching returns, may seem undeniable. But recent "reconstitution" in the indexes tracked by such funds tells a different story—one every investor should understand.
Episode 60: Every two years, millions of investors probably ask themselves (and their advisors) whether looming elections demand changes to their investment portfolios. It's an understandable sentiment—and one that demands discussion. But the most important conclusion from these conversations should never change: Since the data doesn't show any strong connection between election results and stock market performance, it's best to vote with your ballot, not your portfolio. No matter how you slice, dice, or take a hatchet to the data, factor in your own political proclivities, or scream about what you think is totally wrong or right about the candidates, market prices have already incorporated all that information (and thousands of other developments, including numerous economic indicators) as investors consider what to do next. This is a well-researched theory of how capital markets work. The implication is that the stock market doesn't really care what you think about this year's midterm elections or the next presidential horse race. Need supporting evidence? Fourteen of 17 presidential terms since 1929, across administrations with both Democratic and Republican chief executives, ended with positive returns for the S&P 500 Index. (S&P data © 2026 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global.) Investors shouldn't ignore elections, of course. But their portfolios may benefit from standing pat as politics rile and emotions rock and roll. In Episode 60 of The Informed Investor podcast, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, interrogate common myths about the impact of elections on markets and offer sensible answers as investors head to the polls. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: "Stay Calm: Learn to Embrace Uncertainty in Investing and Life" Order the new book by Dimensional Founder David Booth https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GPDHGH8K/?maas=maas_adg_2F97289929AB0BA26D806A1F81D55D66_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER Subscribe to the Stay Calm Investing Newsletter https://www.staycalminvesting.com/newsletter?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor "The Informed Investor" on YouTube The Informed Investor - YouTube Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor For US audiences: Select videos are available as part of an opportunity for CFP® and Investments & Wealth Institute® professionals to earn continuing education (CE) credits https://www.dimensional.com/financial-professionals/ce-credit-experience-d360?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
Episode 59: What happens when you rethink how financial advice is delivered—and how an industry comes together?
Episode 58: Any financial professional who joined the industry a week after Black Monday—when the stock market suffered its biggest single-day loss—knows something about investment discipline.