So if you are looking to build an international portfolio of stocks, are these seven a good place to start?

Under changing fiscal regimes there are clear advantages in holding a diverse international portfolio which offers alternative investment opportunities to maximise value for the Company.

This is a strategic investment for us and a positive addition to our extensive international retail portfolio.

Despite that stellar performance, most managers of international portfolios have failed to outpace global market indexes.

The company controls an international portfolio of properties totaling 36.4 million square feet and valued at $10 billion, a spokesman said.

Yet recently, the bulk of new investments into foreign stock funds has been going into international portfolios that invest either exclusively or primarily in Europe.

In 1991 his international portfolio rose 15 percent while the Morgan Stanley index was up 12.1 percent.

In Schwab's case, that is an additional 1.2 percent a year for the domestic portfolios and 1.61 percent for the international portfolio.

Over time, the idea that investments in emerging markets should be part of a diversified international portfolio gained a following.

Among the Department's core services is a discretionary international portfolio, customized to meet each investor's requirements and objectives.