Yeah I’ve kept it and added a small amount when Ukraine kicked off. It’s about 3% allocation so it’s not much and it’s up 5% which is bad in relative terms but not disastrous.
I added some small positions in various themed ETFs but have sold all apart from two, which I’ll keep long term to see how they do (AGES and IH2O). Still only small positions (about 1% of my portfolio).
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Hi folks I’m just looking for the best way to get some global exposure in the form of an ETF. Previously I’ve used VWRL but I’m a bit put off by the £9.95 trading fee applied by Vanguard. Ideally also the ETF would be accumulating.
As such best option I can find is iShares MSCI ACWI which has no such fee. Has anyone any other ideas or does this seem like a sound option?
Just one other thing to add. I was a bit concerned about this fund being in USD as when I come to sell there could be some hefty exchange fees. But are there any equivalents in GDP that cover the world market?
Freetrade and Vanguard do not charge trading fees. Are you using another platform?
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I think Vanguard does charge a £7.50 commission for instant ETF trades but you can avoid this by using its twice-a-day fee-free service.
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There are no exchange fees - at least none that I’d consider high enough to be relevant or that you would see in any way.
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That’s just a cost that the ETF provider has to publish, it’s got nothing to do with your trades. 9.55 for an investment of 5000 over 5 years is roughly 2£ or 0.04% per year and you will never see it deducted anyway.
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Okay I was thinking that was every trade which would add up when dollar cost averaging. Super helpful.
This’ll be my first trade so learning the ropes!
So given that I can’t see a reason not to go for VWRP as my base index fund - maybe 80-90% of my equities portfolio. Any thoughts?
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Welcome then! 
You can find many helpful discussions by using the search here in the forum, e.g.
Generally, I don’t think anyone would say it’s wrong to put 90 or even 100% into a world etf, but it’s more of a personal risk appetite question.
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After a bit of trouble getting my account linked up I’ve now made my first set of purchases and here’s what my portfolio is looking like:-
Next month I’m going to get the Gold allocation closer to 10% but otherwise I’m intending to buy the same.
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This is a great video. I give my portfolio a slight tilt towards small caps and emerging markets using ITs, but I’m glad I’ve avoided the temptation to add all manner of narrow, thematic ETFs over the years.
Describing ETFs as a ‘bonanza’ for fund managers, the late great John Bogle wrote:
“With each passing day, the market segments available through ETFs seem to get narrower. (Can you believe that we now have a “HealthShares Emerging Cancer” ETF?) These nouveau index funds starkly contradict each of the principal concepts underlying the original index fund. If the broadest possible diversification was the original paradigm, surely holding small segments of the market offers less diversification and commensurately more risk.”
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Does anyone hold HDLG ? I have s&p 500 IUSA is there any cross over on this ? Thanks
Since HDLG is based on the SP500 companies, the overlap should be 100% just a different weighting.
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Right guys ive got it to this so far
VUSA(america) VUKE(UK) VERX(dev europe ex uk) VAPX (asia ex Japan) VJPN (japan) VFEM (emerging markets) what do we think? I may add some small cap if any ideas or a high div one any replies/feedback welocme,cheers.
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How about China & India?
Thanks for the reply,yeah good point other than china and india does it look well balanced?
VFEM has fair exposure to China and India - Vanguard Asset Management | Personal Investing in the UK
That’s fairly similar to what I have in my SIPP (VUAG, VFEG, VAPX, VERX, CSUK, CNX1, SJPA)
My view is probably stick with those you’ve picked, you’ve look to have covered most countries equity markets there, dependant on the weighting you’ve given each ETF.
You can search on Vanguard’s investor pages like on the above link to check country and company distribution.
For weighting I used something like this to give a rough idea of percentage splits - Research Quarterly: Equities - SIFMA - Research Quarterly: Equities - SIFMA
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How much you weigh each ETF is also key. Overweighting a geographic area could throw your balance out, unless that is due to wanting further exposure to a particular market.
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