Dividend Withholding Tax Rates by Country for 2023

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The Dividend Withholding Tax Rates by Country sheet for 2023 has been published by S&P Global. Investors in foreign stocks can refer to this chart for finding if any withholding taxes applicable to dividends. Brazil does not withhold taxes on dividends paid out to foreign investors. Similarly other countries such as Hungary, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. also do not withhold taxes.

Note on Chile’s Dividend Withholding Tax Rate:

Among emerging markets Chile used to charge 35%. But reduced it to 23.9041123% last year. So the 35% shown in the below table is incorrect.

Though the rate for Canada is noted as 25% in this table, this can be reduced to 15% in non-retirement accounts by submitting NR-301 form to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). For stocks (excluding REITs) held in qualified retirement accounts such as IRAs, Canada does not withhold any dividends for US residents. So Canadian income equities are ideal for US retirement accounts.

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Source: S&P Global

Asset Class Returns by Year from 2008 to 2022: Chart

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Following other annual charts posted earlier, let us review the last chart in the series on Asset Class returns for 2022 published by Novel Investor. In 2022 cash was the king with a positive return while stocks plunged. REITs were the worst with a loss of about 25%. Bonds did not offer shelter either as shown by the heavy losses in the chart below.

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Source: Novel Investor

Related ETFs:

  1. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
  2. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)

The Complete List of Constituents of the S&P 500 Index can be found here.

Disclosure: No positions

Developed Markets Stock Returns 2008 to 2022:Chart

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I posted a chart on the updated Emerging Markets Returns chart earlier this year. The following is the Developed Markets Stock Returns from 2008 to 2022. The returns shown are total returns and are based on MSCI indices for the countries listed. Last Portugal was the only developed market index to end in the positive. The worst performer was Sweden with a loss of about 28%. The UK market performed relatively better than the S&P.

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Source: Novel Investor

Related ETFs:

  • iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (EWG)
  • iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (EWC)
  • iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund (EWA)
  • iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index (EWU)
  • iShares MSCI Singapore Index (EWS)

Disclosure: No positions

The Periodic Table of Commodities Returns 2022: Chart

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The updated version of the Periodic Table of Commodities Returns with 2022 data has been published by US Funds. Lithium was the best performing commodity last year with a return of about 73%. According to Frank Holmes of US Funds, this was the second year in a row that the “white gold” has soared to top all other metals. In 2021 it shot up by an astonishing 443%. As the demand for EVs continues to grow demand for Lithium will go up as well.

Crude oil and Natural gas were also top performers with the disruption in supply due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Source: US Funds

For an interactive table of the above chart go to the above link.

Related ETFs and companies:

  •  Barclays Bank iPath Pure Beta Crude Oil ETN Exp 18 Apr 2041 (OIL)
  • Albemarle Corporation (ALB)
  • Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM)
  • SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)

Disclosure: No positions

Why Did Latin American Markets Outperform in 2022?

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US equities has one of the worst returns in recent years in 2022. Other developed markets did had similar performance as well. However some emerging markets shined. For instance, Latin American equity markets had a good year relative to their US counterparts. The following chart shows the performance of major Latin American indices in 2022 in US dollar terms:

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Source: Latin America in the Long Term: A Potential Application of U.S. Equities by Cristopher Anguiano, S&P

The reason Latin American counties performed better than US equities is because their equity indices have less exposure to two sectors that got hit bad last year – Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary. Instead of heavy weightage to these sectors, Latin Indices have more allocation to Energy, Financials, Materials and Consumer Staples as shown in the table below according to an article by Cristopher Anguiano at S&P:

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Source: Latin America in the Long Term: A Potential Application of U.S. Equities by Cristopher Anguiano, S&P

The key takeaway for investors that diversification across countries and regions is important. While developed equities had a poor year Latin stocks had a decent year since the sectoral composition of their indices is different.

Related ETFs:

  • iShares MSCI Mexico Capped Investable Market (EWW)
  • iShares MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ)
  • iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index (EPU)
  • Global X FTSE Colombia 20 ETF (GXG)

Disclosure: No Positions