Global Fund

We’re a real cosmopolitan. We may live in Dallas, but we drink Costa Rican coffee, watch British television, read Russian romance novels, and wear shoes made in Vietnam. And when it comes to mutual funds, we want our investments to be just as worldly. That’s why we like global funds: mutual funds that keep at least 25% of their total value invested in countries other than the United States.

We’re also invested in some international funds—funds that only invest in places outside of the U.S.—but global funds are our favorite. Depending on the type of fund we choose, our money can be invested anywhere in the world, from developed nations like Japan...to still-developing ones like Malaysia, which totally appeals to our citizen-of-the-world side.

And while we know that potential political instability and currency fluctuations in other countries make global funds more risky than plain-Jane American mutual funds, that risk is somewhat mitigated by the fact that a portion of the fund is always invested in super-reliable government bonds and other gilt-edged securities. And that makes us, as sophisticated and culturally-aware investors, muy contenta.