1. An international portfolio has lower risk and higher returns than a domestic portfolio because it includes larger, more diverse firms not affected by changes in any single country's economy. The London Stock Exchange, for example, saw continuous increases over 5 years according to Yahoo Finance. 2. International diversification provides greater risk-return benefits for businesses by stabilizing returns and diffusing risks across countries. Losses in one country can be offset by profits in others, reducing overall business risks and providing more stable or higher returns. 3. The gains from diversification are similar for both investors and businesses, who both benefit from investing or operating across multiple nations. However, investors benefit from economic cycles while businesses benefit from different business cycles

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Financial Management – Sample Solution
Question - An international portfolio has lower risk and higher return
than a domestic portfolio. Explain why this is the case for investors.
Include any examples of how non-domestic indexes or markets have
performed/produced returns over the past 10 years or so. Then, relate
the concepts of risk and return to what it means for a company
to diversify its sales or business by expanding beyond its borders.
How do you think companies benefit from diversification -- and how
is this concept similar, as well as different, from the gains enjoyed
by investors?

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Solution: An international portfolio offers lower risk and higher
return than a domestic portfolio. This also provides more
opportunities to the investors. It is because the international portfolio
includes investment in larger firms than in the domestic portfolio. The
securities in domestic portfolio can be affected from the change in the
economic position of the country, while in international portfolio the
change in economic condition of a country would not affect the return
from the portfolio. Thus, an international portfolio has lower risk and
higher return than a domestic portfolio.
(Source: Yahoo Finance, 2010)

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The above describes the return of London Stock Exchange over the
last five years. It shows a continuous increase in the return for the
investors. The past data of LSE also describes a significant return to
the investors from this non-domestic market index. But currently the
return in this index is decreasing because of the current economic
crisis in world economy.
The international diversification of the business leads to a greater
risk return tradeoff. This is because the business diversification
stables return for the business and defuses risk from the business.
The loss from the business operation in one country is tradeoff with
the profits in another country. The diversification of business
beyond national boundaries includes different economic cycles that
reduces business risks and provides stable or higher return to the
business. It is because; systematic risk in one country may be
unsystematic risk in another country (Levi, 2005). The business also
grabs the opportunity of expanding its business in emerging markets
that reduce risk and improves return for the business.

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This concept is quite similar as the gain enjoyed by the investors
through international portfolio than domestic portfolio. The investor
invests their capital in different nation’s securities and the business
men also operate their business in different nations. Thus, the profit
from diversification is similar for investors as well as for businesses.
On the other hand, this concept is also different from profits to the
investors through the diversification as investors enjoy the benefits
from the economic cycles while businesses enjoy profits from
different business cycles.