ETF VDHG or VAS + VGS

Discussion in 'Shares & Funds' started by William W, 14th Jan, 2020.

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  1. mtat

    mtat Well-Known Member

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    VAS - nice, although a bit too much for my liking
    VGS - nice, I would increase the allocation though
    A200 - take it out, you already have VAS
    IVV - take it out, you already have VGS
    IIND - take it out, absolutely no reason to overweight India + the MER is ridiculous (0.80%) [replace with max 10% in VGE if you want emerging markets]
    IJR - why bother with 4% + you already have VGS
    MLT - why bother with 3% + you already have VAS
    BKI - why bother with 3% + I wouldn't recommend this LIC (been discussed a ton in other threads)
    QVE - why bother with 3% + active fund, high fees and will under-perform for long periods of time, maybe forever
    MIR - why bother with 3% + active fund, high fees and will under-perform for long periods of time, maybe forever

    Just stick with VAS/VGS or VDHG. By over-complicating the portfolio you are not necessarily increasing your expected return.
     
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  2. Ideacrash

    Ideacrash Well-Known Member

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    thank you for your response @mtat . I will consider in refining my portfolio for the future.

    I have a small percentage of A200 as the brokerage for A200 is lesser than VAS. I understand the holding are very similar .
    VGS is having around 70% US , where IVV is fully US based companies. ( Instead of having one , I am having two )
    IIND tracks well know companies from India and I have some soft corner to India and hence have allocated a small percentage to it . I understand this fund charges a huge MER. Hence, very small percentage allocation to it.
    IJR/QVE/MIR mainly tracks small caps ( if I am not wrong ) , so have allocated a small percentage .
    MLT/BKI - I think I can chuck it out. But just to have some exposure to LIC's.

    My main objective was to diversify my holdings globally and across caps.
     
  3. number 5

    number 5 Well-Known Member

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    +1.

    @Ideacrash your portfolio idea is unnecessarily over complicated.
     
  4. Ideacrash

    Ideacrash Well-Known Member

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    Thinking of the MLT+BKI allocation to VAS+A200 and QVE+MIR allocation to EX20 ETF. If I have big lumpsum to invest 100K+ , I would have just invested in VAS+VGS. But now since I am in the phase of DCA , i am spreading across few more funds.Its not at all hard to decide where to put the money. I have target percentage allocation and I have to open my googlesheet to see where to invest the money.
     
  5. mtat

    mtat Well-Known Member

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    The logic here is a bit backwards. Because you have little money to invest initially, you should be buying one ETF at a time. No less than $5K per investment.
     
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  6. MangoMadness

    MangoMadness Well-Known Member

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    I think it question boils down to....'why?'

    Is there a specific reasoning behind buying A200 instead of VAS? Is it the illusion of diversity when there is none or another reason? If that reason is so strong then why buy VAS at all?
     
  7. sfdoddsy

    sfdoddsy Well-Known Member

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    The recent volatility in the market has been quite educational. Prior to the March slump I, like many, had a widely diversified portfolio. Not just VAS and VGS, and not just the VGE, VGAD and VISM that VDHG adds, but also infrastructure, international property and value via VVLU.

    The theory being that such diversification improves your risk/return ratio.

    Whilst I'm sure every slump is different, that theory has whilted under pressure. When the chips were down, so were all of the diversified funds.

    And the fact that I had all these individual funds encouraged fiddling and futile attempts at market timing.

    @Falcon has, IMHO, given the most sensible advice.

    If you believe diversification is good, VDHG is diversified enough that attempting to improve on it is likely futile.

    You might have done better just choosing VGS, or jumping into VGAD or VAS. But probably not.

    Thanks to the current frothy market rebound I haven't suffered too much, but I count myself lucky.

    I've tax loss harvested and now have almost everything in VDHG apart from a couple of small active tilts I suspect are just over-cleverness on my part.
     
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  8. Kelstan2009

    Kelstan2009 Member

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    7th Feb, 2017
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    23
    Location:
    Melbourne
    I currently hold about $3.5k worth of VGS - I will be investing $40k in VDHG soon. Indefinite/very long timeline. I am a big fan of the diversification, auto re-balancing and I believe this will suit my set and forget passive approach.

    Is it worth keeping the VGS as a separate holding or should I sell and re-invest into VDHG? Fwiw, as it stands, I won’t have any CGT implications if I sold my VGS.
     

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