International Stock Index Investment Fund
First, let's answer a few questions.
-
Investment in the I Fund offers the opportunity to experience gains from equity ownership of non-U.S. companies. Because it represents the stocks of companies in many developed countries (excluding the U.S.), it is an excellent way to diversify the stock portion of your TSP allocation.
-
I Fund returns move up and down with the returns in the MSCI EAFE (market risk). The EAFE Index (and the I Fund returns) will rise or fall as the value of the U.S. dollar decreases or increases relative to the value of the currencies of the countries represented in the EAFE index (currency risk) or if I Fund investments do not outpace or grow enough to offset the reduction in purchasing power (inflation risk).
-
The I Fund can be useful in a portfolio that also contains stock funds that track other indexes such as the C Fund and the S Fund. By investing in all segments of the stock market (as opposed to just one), you reduce your exposure to market risk. The I Fund can also be useful in a portfolio that contains bonds. A retirement portfolio that contains a bond fund like the F Fund, along with other stock funds, like the C and S Funds, will tend to be less volatile than one that contains stock funds alone.
The I Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index.
Performance
-- YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr |
---|---|---|---|---|
- | - | - | - | - |
-
Details as of 12/31/2023
Assets
$78.2 billionTotal expense ratio
$0.540/$1,000 account balance 0.054% (5.4 basis points)Benchmark index
MSCI EAFE Index | msci.comAsset manager(s)
BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A.
State Street Global Advisors Trust CompanyInception date
5/1/2001Top ten holdings as of 12/31/2023
- NOVOB Novo Nordisk Class B
- NSRGF Nestle S.A.
- ASML ASML Holding NV
- LVMH LVMH
- SHEL Shell PLC
- AZN AstraZeneca PLC
- NVSEF Novartis AG
- RHHBF Roche Holding Par AG
- TOYOF Toyota Motor Corp
- BHP BHP Group Ltd
-
-
Portfolio Weight as of December 12, 2023
Country Percent of Holdings* Portfolio Percentage Number of Companies Austria 0.2% 4 Belgium 0.9% 12 Denmark 3.5% 16 Finland 0.8% 12 France 12.1% 61 Germany 8.6% 58 Ireland 0.8% 7 Italy 2.6% 23 Netherlands 4.6% 25 Norway 0.7% 12 Portugal 0.2% 5 Spain 2.7% 19 Sweden 3.4% 43 Switzerland 9.9% 44 United Kingdom 14.5% 82 Australia 7.6% 58 Hong Kong 2.2% 32 Israel 0.7% 14 Japan 22.4% 222 New Zealand 0.2% 6 Singapore 1.4% 22 Total 1 100.0% 777 - Due to rounding, numbers may not add up to exactly 100%.
-
Fees as of 12/31/2023
Net administrative expense ratio
$0.480/$1,000 account balance 0.048% (4.8 basis points)Investment expense ratio1
$0.060/$1,000 account balance 0.006% (0.6 basis points)Total expense ratio
$0.540/$1,000 account balance 0.054% (5.4 basis points)- Fees paid to the investment manager.
Additional information
By law, the I Fund must be invested in a portfolio designed to track the performance of an index of common stocks representing international stock markets outside of the United States. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has chosen as its benchmark the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index, which tracks the overall performance of the major companies and industries in the European, Australian, and Asian stock markets.
The EAFE Index, published by MSCI, is an index of the equity markets of the developed world outside of the United States and Canada. It is the most widely used international stock index. As of December 31, 2022, the index covered the equity markets of 21 countries, as shown in the table.
The FRTIB’s Executive Director currently allocates the selection, purchase, investment, and management of assets contained in the I Fund to BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A., and State Street Global Advisors Trust Company. The The I Fund holds common stocks of all the companies represented in the EAFE Index in virtually the same weights that they have in the index. The performance of the I Fund is evaluated on the basis of how closely its returns match those of the EAFE Index.