Our International Technical Leaders Indices were evaluated at the end of June, leading to some shifts in allocation to start the second half.
International equities had a banner year in 2025 and have continued to demonstrate strength so far in 2026. The broader asset class has been the top-ranked position in our DALI asset class rankings since February. Emerging markets led the way higher while developed markets had steadier improvement. Underneath the hood, sharp appreciation from some focused areas contributed to that recent strength.
Capitalizing on strength in international equities can be difficult. Different countries have different economic drivers to consider. There are also a multitude of different factors that can affect the price action of individual securities within each country. This often leads to increased dispersion between leaders and laggards in foreign markets, producing big winners but also big losers. Using a momentum-focused approach can be beneficial here, allowing a defined process to determine the strongest securities while avoiding the weakest ones.
Our International Technical Leaders indices seek to do just that, taking broader inventories from developed and emerging markets then only focusing exposure on the 100 names from each list that have demonstrated the strongest momentum. This includes the indices behind the Invesco Dorsey Wright Emerging Markets Momentum ETF (PIE) and the Invesco Dorsey Wright Developed Markets Momentum ETF (PIZ). Both indices were reconstituted at the end of the most recent quarter, leading to some allocation shifts to better align each strategy with areas of improvement.
Developed Markets
The Invesco DWA Developed Markets Momentum ETF (PIZ) saw 59 changes in the most recent evaluation, which is significantly higher than the 42 seen in the previous two evaluations. There are 20 countries represented, including 15 that saw an allocation shift. Canada is now the most overweight country at 18.8%, adding 7.3% in new allocation. Japan has the second highest weighting in the fund and saw the largest percentage of new allocation. South Korea has the third largest weighting of any country, but saw its total allocation drop entering July.
On the sector side, finance remains the top holding and expanded its allocation to 41.6%, over 10% higher than we saw at the last evaluation. Producer manufacturing and electronic technology saw the most allocation added at 16.3% and 6.8%, respectively. Those three industry groups are the only ones with double-digit allocations in the portfolio.
Emerging Markets
The Invesco Dorsey Wright Emerging Markets Momentum ETF (PIE) saw far fewer allocation shifts than PIZ at the end of last month, with 39 names swapped out for new positions. There are 13 countries represented in the holdings, 11 of which saw changes. Taiwan continues to demonstrate strength with the greatest number of new names added at 9.3% in new allocation out of the total weight of 59.8%. China saw 9.1% of new allocation, but its total allocation decreased by 2.4% to 14.4%. This was a notable decline from the 33.7% in total China allocation nine months ago. These two countries alone still make up nearly three-quarters of the total portfolio.
From a sector standpoint, there are 15 industry groups represented, 10 of which saw changes. Electronic technology is now more than 40% of the fund, more than doubling the next largest industry group, finance, which sits at 19%.
Altogether, these changes reflect a continuation of the relative strength trend that has produced improvement for international equities in recent quarters. The momentum factor has seen some turbulence in international equities to start the second half of the year as major winners consolidated. This is normal in any long-term bullish trend for any asset class. If we see more change over the next three months, the process behind these strategies will adapt to new leadership trends, pushing the portfolios toward strength and avoiding areas of weakness.
Disclosures:
This article is intended for Financial Professional Use Only.
Management and other expenses can have a material impact on performance when compounded over time. Past performance, hypothetical or actual, does not guarantee future results. In all securities trading there is a potential for loss as well as profit. It should not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or will equal the performance as shown.
Click here for more information from Invesco on the Invesco Dorsey Wright Developed Markets Momentum ETF (PIZ): https://www.invesco.com/us/en/financial-products/etfs/invesco-dorsey-wright-developed-markets-momentum-etf.html
Click here for more information from Invesco on the Invesco Dorsey Wright Emerging Markets Momentum ETF (PIE): https://www.invesco.com/us/en/financial-products/etfs/invesco-dorsey-wright-emerging-markets-momentum-etf.html
Dorsey, Wright & Associates, LLC is owned by Nasdaq, Inc. and we have affiliates who also provide financial services, research, information, and act as Brokers/Dealers to a wide variety of clients. Our affiliates use the information we create to create indexes, which are then used to create Exchange Traded Funds. These things create a potential conflict of interest in that we may have an incentive to promote or use the products and services of our affiliates and business partners. A number of Dorsey Wright representatives are registered with and hold securities licenses with the affiliate broker-dealers. In this capacity, they assist with the marketing and distribution of Exchange Traded Products.
