This data set provides a broad breakdown of a fund's geographical exposure. Each region's exposure is presented as a percentage of non-cash equity assets held by the fund. Regional exposure information summarizes a portfolio's exposure to geopolitical risk. It also provides a reference point for understanding fund returns. Some fund managers follow a "top down" discipline, where they direct their investments into regions they consider good opportunities.
For stock funds, regional exposure is calculated as a percentage of stocks; for bond funds, the data is available for international bond funds only, and is culled from quarterly surveys.
Morningstar recently revised its existing region scheme to accommodate a more refined classification. The structure of Morningstar’s regions is a single unified scheme with some countries at its base. These countries are classified into geographic regions. The regions are then folded into three super geographic regions of the Americas, Greater Europe and Greater Asia. They are based on the following three criteria:
Common economic/currency denominator
Sufficient population of publicly traded equities.
Logistics and geography.
These super regions alongside Morningstar’s new Economic Spheres are meant to provide quick, easy to understand and unified portfolio construction and asset allocation tool. The relationship between super regions, regions, and countries is displayed below. Each country’s development status is designated in parentheses (d = developed, e = emerging).
Morningstar Super Regions
The Americas: This super region includes North America and Latin America. Within this super region, we have the following economic regions:
North America: the U.S. (d) and Canada (d)
Latin America: Anguilla (e), Antigua & Barbuda (d), Argentina (e) , Aruba (d), Bahamas (d), Barbados (d), Belize (e), Bermuda (d), Bolivia (e), Bonaire (e), Brazil (e), British Virgin Islands (e), Cayman Islands (d), Chile (e), Colombia (e), Costa Rica (e), Cuba (e), Curacao (e), Dominica (e), Dominican Republic (e), Ecuador (e), El Salvador (e), Falkland Islands (e), French Antilles (e), French Guiana (e), Grenada (e), Guadeloupe (e), Guatemala (e), Guyana (e), Haiti (e), Honduras (e), Jamaica (e), Martinique (e), Mexico (e), Montserrat (e), Netherlands Antilles (d), Nicaragua (e), Panama (e), Paraguay (e), Peru (e), Puerto Rico (d), St. Kitts & Nevis (e), St. Lucia (e), St. Vincent & the Grenadines (e), Suriname (e), Trinidad & Tobago (e), Turks & Caicos (e), Uruguay (e), US Virgin Islands (d), Venezuela (e)
Greater Europe: This super region includes the United Kingdom, continental Europe (Western and Eastern Europe, Russia),
and Africa. Within this super region, we have the following economic regions:
United Kingdom: United Kingdom (d) and Isle of Man (d)
Europe Developed: Andorra (d) Austria (d) Belgium (d) Cyprus (d) Denmark (d) Faroe Islands (d) Finland (d) France (d) Germany (d) Gibraltar (e) Greece (d) Greenland (d) Iceland (d) Ireland (d) Italy (d) Liechtenstein (d) Luxembourg (d) Malta (d) Monaco (d) Netherlands (d) Norway (d) Portugal (d) San Marino (d) Slovenia (d) Spain (d) Svalbard (e) Sweden (d) Switzerland (d) Vatican City (e)
Europe Emerging: Albania (e) Belarus (e) Bosnia & Herzegovina (e) Bulgaria (e) Croatia (e) Czech Republic (e) Estonia (e) Hungary (e) Latvia (e) Lithuania (e) Macedonia (e) Moldova (e) Poland (e) Romania (e) Russia (e) Serbia & Montenegro (e) Slovakia (e) Turkey (e) Ukraine (e)
Africa/Middle East: Algeria (e) Angola (e) Bahrain (d) Benin (e) Botswana (e) Bouvet Island (e) Burkina Faso (e) Burundi (e) Cameroon (e) Cape Verde (e) Central African Rep. (e) Chad (e) Comoros (e) Congo (e) Cote d'lovire (e) Dem. Rep. of Congo (e) Djibouti (e) Egypt (e) Equatorial Guinea (e) Eritrea (e) Ethiopia (e) Gabon (e) Gambia (e) Ghana (e) Guinea (e) Guinea-Bissau (e) Iran (e) Iraq (e) Israel (d) Jordan (e) Kenya (e) Kuwait (d) Lebanon (e) Lesotho (e) Liberia (e) Libya (e) Madagascar (e) Malawi (e) Mali (e) Mauritania (e) Mauritius (e) Mayotte (e) Morocco (e) Mozambique (e) Namibia (e) Niger (e) Nigeria (e) Oman (e) Qatar (d) Reunion Island (e) Rwanda (e) Sao Tome & Principe (e) Saudi Arabia (e) Senegal (e) Seychelles (e) Sierra Leone (e) Somalia (e) South Africa (e) St. Helena (e) Sudan (e) Swaziland (e) Syria (e) Tanzania (e) Togo (e) Tunisia (e) Uganda (e) United Arab Emirates (d) West Bank and Gaza (e) Western Sahara (e) Yemen (e) Zambia (e) Zimbabwe (e)
Greater Asia: This super region includes the Middle East and all other Asian countries In addition to stand alone countries, or sub-regions such as Japan and Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). Within this super region, we have the following economic regions:
Japan: Japan (d)
Australasia: Australia (d) and New Zealand (d)
Asia Developed: Brunei (d), French Polynesia (d), Guam (d), Hong Kong (d), Macau (d), New Caledonia (d), Singapore (d), South Korea (d), Taiwan (d)
Asia Emerging: Afghanistan (e), American Samoa (e), Armenia (e), Azerbaijan (e), Bangladesh (e), Bhutan (e), Burma (e), Cambodia (e), China (e), Christmas Island (e), Cocos Islands (e), Cook Islands (e), East Timor (e), Fiji (e), Georgia (e), Heard & McDonald (e), India (e), Indonesia (e), Kazakhstan (e), Kiribati (e), Kyrgyzstan (e), Laos (e), Malaysia (e), Maldives (e), Marshall Islands (e), Micronesia (e), Mongolia (e), Nauru (e), Nepal (e), Niue (e), Norfolk Island (e), North Korea (e), Northern Mariana Isl. (e), Pakistan (e), Palau (e), Papua New Guinea (e), Philippines (e), Pitcairn Islands (e), Samoa (e), Solomon Islands (e), Sri Lanka (e), Tajikistan (e), Thailand (e), Tokelau (e), Tonga (e), Turkmenistan (e), Tuvalu (e), Uzbekistan (e), Vanuatu (e), Vietnam (e), Wallis & Futuna Isl. (e)
Not Classified: Not all individual stocks or all securities in fund portfolios can be identified or classified by Morningstar. If a security cannot be identified or classified, it will be reflected in this number.
Market Maturity Developed Markets %
For purposes of this calculation, developed markets include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and a handful of smaller countries and territories (such as Gibraltar).
Market Maturity Emerging Markets %
All countries that are not developed markets are considered emerging markets. Emerging markets normally carry greater political and economic risk than developed countries, and stocks located in them are normally less liquid and more volatile.
Portfolio Date
The date of the most recent portfolio of the exchange-traded fund.