What Makes Dodge & Cox International Stock an Enticing Fund

Key Morningstar Metrics for Dodge & Cox International Stock

• Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
• Process Pillar: High
• People Pillar: High
• Parent Pillar: High

Dodge & Cox International Stock DODFX is enticing despite its tendency to produce volatile results.

The fund’s management structure greatly reduces any worries about disruption. A committee of six veteran investors runs the portfolio. The group has had a change or two almost every year for the past decade, but each was well-handled as the firm effectively addressed retirements, developed talent, or swapped skillsets. The December 2024 departure of veteran Mario DiPrisco to pursue other interests didn’t come with the usual lengthy advance notice (about six months, versus Dodge & Cox’s standard 12-18 months), but the firm’s appointment of Chief Investment Officer David Hoeft to the committee in January 2025 filled the void. In any case, the committee’s structural integrity allows for personnel changes, with little effect on the overall portfolio.

Another transcendent feature is Dodge & Cox’s investment ethos. Here, as at other Dodge & Cox funds, talented in-house analysts produce extensive research that enables confident investing in businesses, which others might find sketchy. That’s how the managers find cheap stocks—and getting good deals is essential to the Dodge & Cox approach. But patience is required. Dodge & Cox’s managers often wait years for their investments to pan out and sometimes get bruised along the way. Similarly, fundholders should be ready to endure periods of mediocrity—or worse—before reaping rewards here.

All things considered, this fund offers a lot, and its fees are fairly modest. Don’t go anywhere.

Dodge & Cox International Stock: Performance Highlights

The fund’s long-term track record is impressive despite a contrarian investment style that tends to make its returns relatively lumpy over shorter periods. From longest-tenured manager Roger Kuo’s May 2006 start through Oct. 28, 2025, the I share class gained 5.5% annualized, outpacing 85.0% of its foreign large-value category peers and beating the 4.3% gain of the category’s benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Value Index.

Dodge & Cox International has joined its cohort in a strong rally in international stocks since the start of 2025. It climbed nearly 33% for the year through late October, a result roughly in line with index and slightly ahead of the typical category peer. One of the fund’s top performers, the Spanish bank Santander (which has a significant presence in Latin America), showed the value of the Dodge & Cox team’s fortitude. The fund has owned Santander SAN since 2010, and for most of that period, got little out of it until this year’s doubling of the share price. Santander is one of many financials stocks in this portfolio, and other holdings in that sector that have done well so far in 2025 include Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco ITUB and British bank Barclays BCS.