Creative writing about international investing

Here's a good example of creative writing that's conservative enough to get by a mutual fund compliance dept.

"Why invest internationally? Over the past 34 years, not once did the United States emerge as the world's top-performing market...."

The quoted material cleverly -- and inaccurately -- implies that an international portfolio would have outperformed a U.S. portfolio during these years. Of course, you would have consistently outperformed the U.S. only if every year you had correctly identified the market that would perform best in that year. Even the best international investment managers can't consistently deliver that kind of performance.

Of course, to be fair to the ad, I've got to mention that it gives other reasons for international investing. Moreover, the recommended Laudus International MarketMasters Fund invests in portfolios managed by four subadvisors. Laudus clearly believes in the value of a diversified international portfolio.

I found this ad in the Nov. 28 Investment News.