Stocks and bonds outside the United States, and the dollar that sets what they are worth to a US holder.
Dollar displacement is one of 22 market stories StoryVector measures. 641 US ETFs carry it, with $2.5 trillion between them; the largest holder, VEA, holds 9.6% of its capital. This week it ranks 19th of 22 for attention, in the WARM band. Over the past year its ETFs returned +19.3%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
Its level among all 22 on the fixed 25 to 60 scale. The band is where the level sits this week, not a direction.
Its ETFs ranked among the narratives, lowest to highest. The white notch is this one; the thin tick is where broad US ETFs would sit. Measured and past, not a forecast.
What the story is about, where its attention comes from, what sets it off, and what it shares ETFs with. This week it was measured on 4 of the six channels, and the channel chart is drawn only when all six report.
Many investors own the world outside the US through ETFs like these, often by default. When that holding grows, is it a choice about the US, or the dollar moving?
Investors decided they own too much America and are shifting the weight. What sits in these ETFs reflects a choice.
Nothing was chosen. A weaker dollar makes anything held abroad worth more in dollars with no buying or selling, and a stronger dollar does the reverse.
What would separate them. Shares, not dollars. A reallocation shows up as more shares of these ETFs held. A currency move shows up as the same shares worth more or less. The two overlap, since buying abroad means selling dollars, so the argument is about how much is which.
The currency category holds both readings as products: most of it hedges the dollar out, and one ETF bets the other way. We measure the attention and the capital, not why the capital is there.
641 ETFs carry this narrative; 624 have it as their main one. Here is how its capital divides among them.
The asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry this narrative, against broad US ETFs. Measured and past, not a forecast.
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dollar displacementits ETFs, unlevered | −1.6% | +1.2% | +14.8% | +19.3% | +21.1% | +9.9% |
| rank among the narratives | 11th of 22 | 11th of 22 | 7th of 22 | 5th of 21 | 10th of 21 | 11th of 21 |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualized. Rank is among the narratives with a full record for the period. A dash means the narrative’s ETFs do not cover the whole period.
Total return on the market price, each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it; the market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
8 categories, each claimed by a written rule. The bar is each one’s share of the capital. The table names what decides each.
| Category | ETFs | Capital | Share of the ETFs | Share of the capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad developedWhat US companies cost set against what the rest of the developed world costs for the same earnings | 137 | $1,266 bn | 22% | 50.7% |
| Emerging marketsThe price of the dollar as the currency many of these economies borrow and trade in | 89 | $450 bn | 14% | 18.0% |
| Factor and income tiltsWhat a foreign dividend is worth to the holder after foreign withholding tax and conversion into dollars | 110 | $313 bn | 18% | 12.5% |
| Country and regionThe policy of one government or one central bank | 150 | $305 bn | 24% | 12.2% |
| International bondsForeign interest rates, and whether the currency is hedged back to dollars | 22 | $123 bn | 4% | 4.9% |
| Currency positionsThe difference between US and foreign short-term interest rates, which is what a currency hedge costs or pays | 18 | $32.0 bn | 3% | 1.3% |
| Levered and inverse wrappersThe day-to-day path of one country's index, which a daily reset compounds | 52 | $3.0 bn | 8% | 0.1% |
| Buffered and defined-outcomeThe price of the options that set the buffer and the cap | 46 | $3.3 bn | 7% | 0.1% |
The widest gap: country and region, 24% of the ETFs and 12.2% of the capital.
What issuers have listed with this as the main narrative, by wrapper.
What issuers have listed, not what anyone expects. A wrapper can be listed before anyone wants it, so a count of ETFs and a share of capital answer different questions.
641 US ETFs carry it. The largest holders of its capital are VEA (9.6%), IEFA (7.7%) and VXUS (6.6%).
VEA, with 9.6% of the capital in ETFs carrying the story; the top five hold 35.5%.
Its attention level is 41.5 on a scale of 25 to 60, 19th of 22 this week, in the WARM band. The level averages six channels: search, video, news, forums, investor boards and reference pages.
Asset weighted, its ETFs returned +19.3% over the past year, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs, to October 2, 2026. Past performance only.
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