On this episode of the “ETF of the Week” podcast, VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth talked about the T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF (TOUS) with Money Life host Chuck Jaffe. The pair covered a range of topics related to the fund, providing investors with a deeper understanding of the ETF.

Chuck Jaffe: One fund, on point for today, and the expert to talk about it. Yes, this is the ETF of the Week, where we examine trending, new, newsworthy, unique and intriguing exchange traded funds with the help of Todd Rosenbluth, the head of research at VettaFi. At VettaFi.com you’ll find all the tools you need to dig into the ideas we talked about here and to get more information on mutual funds you’ve got or are considering. Check it out again at VettaFi.com.

Todd Rosenbluth. Great to chat with you again.

Todd Rosenbluth: It’s great to be back, Chuck.

Chuck Jaffe: Your ETF of the week is…

Todd Rosenbluth: The T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF (TOUS).

Chuck Jaffe: TOUS. The T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF. Now, T. Rowe Price has been kind of migrating their funds over towards ETF status. So, on the one hand, this is a relatively new fund. On the other hand, it’s a very established manager. So why this fund now, in a week where, oh, by the way, international tariffs are the dominant story in the news?

Todd Rosenbluth: Well, international equity ETFs have been the dominant story for 2025 for the ETF industry. This T. Rowe Price ETF… But others are significantly outperforming the US equity marketplace. So TOUS gives you an actively managed stock picking, bottom-up approach from one of the leading managers in the active ETF space expertise. And it’s well diversified. So this fund is outperforming even its international equity peers to kick off this year. We thought no time better than to talk about this T. Rowe Price ETF.

Chuck Jaffe: So, you love the performance because it’s at the top of the peer group. A peer group that has been hot. But before we dig in much further on the fund, one of the interesting things — I know you were recently at Exchange. I was at Future Proof Citywide. But one of the things that I saw at Future Proof and then I heard about from Exchange, was that there seems to be a dichotomy among money managers, some who are really buying the international story, “Get there and make it happen.” Some who are going, “I’m just not buying it. I don’t think it’s strong enough. I don’t think this rally can continue.” So this pick is ETF for the week. Is this a testament to the fact that you are buying the story?

Todd Rosenbluth: So we’re hearing from more advisors that they’re interested in increasing their international equity exposure. They came into 2024, and they came again into 2025, underexposed to international equity because U.S. equities performed so well. And you’re right. At the Exchange conference we had a session on international equity investing and it was well attended. We heard from a lot of folks that it was one of their favorite sessions.

So we wanted to specifically highlight one of the funds. Actively managed ETFs have been punching above their weight again in 2025. And so this fund blends those two trends, actively managed and international equity. And, oh, by the way, this T. Rowe Price fund is doing very well from a performance standpoint. So we like the process. We like the people that are behind this fund at T. Rowe price. But it’s working. So folks should take a closer look at it.

Chuck Jaffe: On a nuts and bolts ETF matter… You know, it used to be that basically, it was really difficult to take a traditional mutual fund and convert it into an ETF or to create an ETF around it. Now it’s become pretty easy. That’s why we’re seeing a lot more fun companies, most notably T. Rowe Price in this case, doing it. But is there ever a worry, like if you see the long track record in the traditional fund that basically covers the same space, do you not care that it’s basically not a long-lived ETF?

Todd Rosenbluth: So I mean, well, that’s not the case for this fund. This fund has a relatively short history as an ETF. T. Rowe price has a long history of offering international equity strategies. But TOUS itself is not a conversion from a mutual fund into an ETF. It’s a fully transparent product that gives you exposure to companies like UniCredit and Rolls-Royce and ASML.

Those are just a handful of the stocks that are among the top ten holdings, as we’re talking about it today. But to me, a track record is a track record. It doesn’t matter if it was, establishing a mutual fund or an ETF space. And in this case, it’s an ETF, has an ETF, but you could certainly look at T. Rowe Price’s history of offering actively managed strategies, investing outside the United States to get a sense and confidence in the firm’s capabilities in selecting stocks and thus putting them into a broadly diversified portfolio.

Chuck Jaffe: The wild card in this case is tariffs. Tariffs are a news story. News stories? Well, people can’t necessarily avoid them or ignore them, but they’re not necessarily what you want to invest in. So does the tariff picture at all factor into your decision this week?

Todd Rosenbluth: So, I think if you’re going to invest in an international equity ETF in the environment where we have, where tariffs are on or off — and as we’re recording this, I’m not sure what’s going to happen for the month of April. I think the tariffs would go into effect tomorrow. As you and I are talking they may not.

Who knows? At this point, I like having an active manager to help, determine what stocks are going to be impacted, what markets might be impacted. Even though this fund from T. Rowe Price is bottom up, it’s choosing the best stocks, regardless of whether domiciled, as opposed to choosing the countries that may or may not be impacted. But there’s nothing wrong with taking an index based approach. It tends to be cheaper and broadly diversified. But the active manager, and the firm T. Rowe Price can help you to sort through that universe, finding what companies can benefit or hurt. Let’s avoid those. And I like that, in an environment where there’s so much uncertainty going on.

Chuck Jaffe: And that is why TOUS, the T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF, is the ETF of the week. Todd Rosenbluth at VettaFi. Todd, great stuff as always. Thanks so much for joining me. We’ll talk to you again next week.

Todd Rosenbluth: I’ll see you next week, Chuck.

Chuck Jaffe: The ETF of the Week is a joint production of VettiFi and Money Life with Chuck Jaffe.

And I am Chuck Jaffe, and I’d love it if you check out my hourlong weekday podcast by going to moneylifeshow.com or by looking for it wherever you find your favorite podcast. And if you’re looking for information on your favorite ETFs there’s no better place to go than VettaFi.com where they’ve got a full suite of tools you need to help yourself out. They’re on X @Vetta_Fi and Todd Rosenbluth, their head of research, my guest here on ETF of the Week, he’s on X too @Todd Rosenbluth.

The ETF for the Week is here for you every Thursday, so make sure you don’t miss an episode by following along or subscribing on your favorite podcast app. And if you like us, leave us a review or comment, because those things really do help. We’ll be back with another new or intriguing ETF next week. Till then, happy investing everybody.

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