A quantitative approach to international equity diversification

The Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF (MIQE) has surpassed $1 billion in assets under management, marking an important milestone for the strategy. This underscores growing investor confidence in the GQE team’s quantitative approach to international equity investing. As investors look to diversify beyond US-dominated portfolios, MIQE offers a systematic, capacity-aware way to access developed international markets.

The strategy is managed by the Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity (GQE) Team, which applies a disciplined bottom-up process across more than 5,000 international stocks, using proprietary models that evaluate securities across four key super factors: value, quality, growth and informed investor. Daily stock ranking, risk-aware portfolio construction and strict capacity management allow the team to remain nimble while seeking consistent alpha across market cycles.

Unlike traditional approaches that tilt toward one factor at a time, the GQE investment process is designed to generate balanced exposure across multiple compensated factors. These characteristics demonstrate the strategy’s ability to maintain more attractive valuations, better forward growth prospects and superior quality metrics relative to the index — all at once.

MIQE delivered a 29.2% return over the past year (as at January 31, 2026), outperforming the MSCI EAFE Index by 6.6% and ranking in the top decile¹ of the Morningstar International Equity category. The strategy is supported by a longer-standing institutional track record dating back to 2019, which has generated 6.5% of annualized excess return, highlighting the durability of the GQE Team’s quantitative process through multiple market environments.

Source: Morningstar Direct, returns over 1 year are annualized as at January 31, 2026. Since inception date: September 9, 2024.²

Growth of $10,000

The Mackenzie GQE International Equity strategy is also offered as a mutual fund, the Mackenzie GQE International Equity Fund.

Contact your Sales Representative to learn more about the Mackenzie International Equity ETF and Mackenzie Global Quantitative Equity Team. 

1 Quartile rankings are from Morningstar Research Inc., an independent research firm, based on the Morningstar Canada Fund International Equity category, and reflect the performance of the Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF for the 1year periods as of January 31, 2026. The quartiles divide the data into four equal regions. Expressed in terms of rank (1, 2, 3 or 4), the quartile rankings compare how a fund has performed relative to other funds in a particular category and are subject to change monthly. The number of Canada Fund International Equity category funds for the Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF for each period are as follows: one year – 659 funds; three years – 598 funds; five years – 556 funds; 10 years –  335 funds.

2 Quartile rankings are from Morningstar Research Inc., an independent research firm, based on the Morningstar Canada Fund International Equity category, and reflect the performance of the Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF for the 1year periods as of January 31, 2026. The quartiles divide the data into four equal regions. Expressed in terms of rank (1, 2, 3 or 4), the quartile rankings compare how a fund has performed relative to other funds in a particular category and are subject to change monthly. The number of Canada Fund International Equity category funds for the Mackenzie GQE International Equity ETF for each period are as follows: one year – 659 funds; three years – 598 funds; five years – 556 funds; 10 years –  335 funds.

Commissions, management fees, brokerage fees and expenses may all be associated with Exchange Traded Funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions, and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution, or optional charges or income taxes payable by any security holder that would have reduced returns. Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Index performance does not include the impact of fees, commissions and expenses that would be payable by investors in the investment products that seek to track an index.

The content of this article (including facts, views, opinions, recommendations, descriptions of or references to, products or securities) is not to be used or construed as investment advice, as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, or an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any entity or security cited. Although we endeavour to ensure its accuracy and completeness, we assume no responsibility for any reliance upon it.

©2026 Morningstar Research Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This article may contain forward-looking information which reflect our or third-party current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed herein. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, without limitation, general economic, political and market factors, interest and foreign exchange rates, the volatility of equity and capital markets, business competition, technological change, changes in government regulations, changes in tax laws, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings and catastrophic events. Please consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information contained herein is current only as of January 31, 2026. There should be no expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events or otherwise.