Critique my ETF portfolio

[SaurusDNA]

This is my ETF portfolio. I'm interested to hear any thoughts on how you might tweak it and why...

 

SYGWD   15%

STXEMG   15%

STXIND 15%

SYGUS     14%

GLPROP   7%

SYGJP      7%

STXQUA    7%

ASHT40   7%

STXRAF   7%

ASHMID   6%

[Bandit]

Why have SYGUS and SYGJP when you already have SYGWD? Ok, maybe more exposure to Japan is great but why more exposure to the US when SYGWD is about 60% US already?

 

STXIND, STXQUA, SHT40, STXRAF and ASHMID <- that's a lot of locally exposed ETFs. Why not collapse that into CTOP50 and ASHMID and you have the top 100 covered with a 10% cap on the big shares like Naspers?

[Bandit]

...but if I had to make two changes to that portfolio I would:

 

1. drop STXRAF

2. drop STXUS

 

...and use those funds to pad SYGWD to 20% and use the remaining 11% to buy SYG4IR when come the 6th. BUT, not sure about your age so that is a factor.

 

No point in selling any of those duplicated ETFs either if your brokerage costs are high. Rather just leave them as is and just don't invest in them any further?

[SaurusDNA]

These are exactly the types of ideas I was hoping to get. Thanks for your useful thoughts!

 

I'm 46 years old.

[Spreadsheet Ranger]

I know it's a bit more expensive (TER), but take a look at NFEMOM (http://etfcib.absa.co.za/Products/Exchange%20Traded%20Funds/Equity/EquityMomentumETF/Pages/default.aspx) I have been a very happy holder.

 

My SA exposure is NFEMOM and then I have SYGWD (dbxWD) and SYGJP (dbxJP), because somehow I still think it has potential.

[SaurusDNA]

I will certainly look at NFEMOM too. Thanks!

 

If I collapsed the locals into 2 or 3 ETFs, what sort of balance between T40 and Midcap? 50/50?

 

I'm still reluctant to sell STXIND because it's done so well for me, and I like the idea of quality (STXQUA) rather than purely market cap.

 

But I have also had the feeling that RAFI and QUA are too similar, so I might well drop RAFI as Bandit suggested. And I also think converting US to WD makes sense.

 

I'm loving this thread - really helpful!!!

[Noobly]

I am not really qualified to tell you why or what you should buy, but my portfolio looks as follows:

 

SYGP ~10% (I read somewhere one must always try to keep a little bit of property in one's portfolio.)

SYGWD ~50% (It's 58% US stocks, 8.9% Japan stocks and 6.4% UK stocks) I feel that is a pretty good mix of offshore stocks/exposure.

NFEMOM ~30% (We had a thread about this ETF and it was mentioned in the PW e-book, I like the methodology it's different stocks over the long term without me having to do the work.)

DBCHIN ~10% (ETN, but I wanted exposure to China.)

[Outlook]

I am always amazed at how you guys can keep track of the percentage split.

 

I have 3 ETFs I buy equal amounts each month and ignore the gains (never rebalance).

 

ETFs I own:

 

SYGWD 33.3333333333%

NFEMOM 33.3333333333%

STXEMG 33.3333333333%

[Bandit]

I am always amazed at how you guys can keep track of the percentage split.

 

I have 3 ETFs I buy equal amounts each month and ignore the gains (never rebalance).

 

ETFs I own:

 

SYGWD 33.3333333333%

NFEMOM 33.3333333333%

STXEMG 33.3333333333%

 

It's actually not that difficult and Bloomberg's Watchlist does it for you:

 

 

That's for my TFSA. I've been concentrating on my unit trusts so kinda just been buying MSCI World the last while (well, stopped buying the DBX/Sygnia one and switched to Satrix's because of costs). I really need to rebalance it but waiting for middle December. Ideally, I want to move  some of the PTXTEN to GLPROP, combine the two MSCI ones and add the new SYG4IR (should it be available in the TFSA accounts)

 

BTW - I like that 33/33/33 split you've got. It's brave being that exposed to emerging markets but it could really pay off

[Bogle]

I only own 2 ETFs:

 

STXEMG  - 50 %

STXWDM - 50 %

 

See graph attached, emerging market index and the local market does not differ that much over time. If I should add a local one it will be NFEMOM.

 

[SaurusDNA]

So I took the advice on this thread to heart, bit the bullet and finally decided to do a major reshuffling of my over-diversified portfolio. During this week I reduced my number of ETFs to 7 and reduced my number of stocks to 10.  It's mentally hard to sell a stock or ETF even if you know it's the right thing to do.

 

I looked at NFEMOM but it's too close to my stocks profile, so my new profile looks like this:

 

ETFs  (45% of total investment)

 

Local:

STXIND   7.5%

STXQUA  7.5%

CTOP50   15%

 

Global:

STXEMG  15%

SYG4IR   15%

SYGWD   30%

GLPROP  10%

 

 

Stocks (40% of total investment)

CLS   10%   (Clicks)

CPI   10%   (Capitec)

DCP   10%   (Dis-Chem)

DSY   10%   (Discovery)

ELI   10%    (Ellies)

KIO   10%    (Kumba Iron Ore)

NPN   10%   (Naspers)

PPC   10%   (PPC Cement)

SRE   10%   (Sirius Real Estate)

SDO   10%   (Stadio)

 

 

Commodities (5% of total investment)

 

Paladium  100%  (Through SBAPD1)

 

 

Cryptocurrencies (10% of total investment)

 

Bitcoin          50%

Ethereum       50%

 

 

I'm very happy with my new portfolio and really hoping it does well...   :-)

[SaurusDNA]

 

It's actually not that difficult and Bloomberg's Watchlist does it for you:

 

 

 

That's for my TFSA. I've been concentrating on my unit trusts so kinda just been buying MSCI World the last while (well, stopped buying the DBX/Sygnia one and switched to Satrix's because of costs). I really need to rebalance it but waiting for middle December. Ideally, I want to move  some of the PTXTEN to GLPROP, combine the two MSCI ones and add the new SYG4IR (should it be available in the TFSA accounts)

 

BTW - I like that 33/33/33 split you've got. It's brave being that exposed to emerging markets but it could really pay off

 

 

 

Why do you have both SATRIX World and Sygnia World?

[Bandit]

Stopped buying SYGWD and continued buying STXWDM when it was released instead (lower costs). Not worth the transaction costs to merge them....yet. I'm eyeing ASHGEQ.

[SaurusDNA]

I'm still selling some of my over-diversified stocks and will use the money to buy a "World" ETF, probably in the coming week. Would you buy STXWDM or ASHGEQ? And why?

[Bandit]

If I had to start over I'd probably go with ASHGEQ because it is one ETF that covers almost everything including emerging markets. Combine that with MAPPSG and you have a complete portfolio.

 

Later on you supplement it with PTXTEN for property and other ETFs where you reckon you need more exposure, like STXEMG if you reckon the Ashburton one doesn't give you enough exposure.

 

That's what I would probably do.

[The Local Tourist]

So I am filling up my TFSA for the first time this year and will be adding some ETFs to diversify my portfolio.

 

At the moment I have the following:

Satrix 40

Satrix Indi25

SYGNIA 4IR

CoreShares S&P500

 

The plan is to have the following with a 40(local)/60(international) split:

 

INDI25

ABSA NFTRCI

CTOP50

 

GLPROP

SYGNIA 4IR

STXEMG

STXWDM (or ASHGEQ)

 

If I add the Emerging Market and World ETF, is it worth it to keep a portion in the S&P 500?

[SaurusDNA]

Bandit is the expert on ETFs here, so I would wait for his comments before taking any action, but my immediate observations are:

 

1) Ashburton Top 40 is the exact same index as Satrix Top 40, but with lower fees, so I'd definitely recommend going Ashburton rather than Satrix for this one if you choose a Top 40 Index. But...

 

2) CTOP50 has much lower Naspers exposure than either Top 40 index, so if you're doing INDI also, then you have so much Naspers exposure (INDI is 40% Naspers), that either Satrix or Ashburton Top 40 (which are both also 20% Naspers) would be almost be duplication and put tons of risk in one company and you're at risk of a Steinhoff type collapse of a large chunk of your investment if something goes wrong with Naspers. If you're going to keep INDI, then I'd definitely go for CTOP50 rather than either Ashburton Top 40 or Satrix Top 40. Without INDI, I'd go for Ashburton Top 40.

 

3) Since you don't have mid-cap in your investment, CTOP50 is also better than a Top40 index, since it has some mid-cap exposure as well.

 

4) If you have STXWDM or ASHGEQ, then S&P is duplication. Remember, however, that you can only trade within the TFIA, and can't withdraw and then deposit again, so be careful if you sell S&P that the money doesn't get paid out to you but gets reinvested right away.

 

5) STXWDM is 60% US markets, whereas ASHGEQ is much more balanced globally, so you should decide on whether you think US will outperform the rest of the world under Trump before deciding on which of these two to buy.   ;-)

 

6) Just out of interest, why NFTRCI? This is very low risk and will give you an almost guaranteed 6-7% return, even in a bear market, but certainly no higher. I'm not saying it's bad as part of your portfolio - if the JSE crashes, this one will probably be the best to have, but I'm just wondering if you have a bleak outlook on the economy this coming year? This one can sometimes be frustrating as it will take you over three months just to recover your fees, due to its straight line 0.5% per month return. I bought it once and regretted it and sold it after a few months for a few cents above what I bought it for.

 

7) For your local mix, also have a look at STXQUA (Satrix Quality Portfolio) which has done remarkable well since its inception compared to the other indices, and is a different basket of companies from the above, chosen on performance rather than market capitalization.

 

8) In general, Satrix is expensive with fees compared to others such as Ashburton or Sygnia. If you decide to go for STXWDM rather than ASHGEQ, then have a look at SYGWD as a cheaper alternative.

 

Overall, though, it looks good.

 

With your preferences I'd go for:

 

Local:

CTOP50

STXIND

(And maybe STXQUA also with your mix to balance performance and market cap.)

 

Global:

ASHGEQ (or STXWDM or SYGWD)

STXEMG

GLPROP

SYG4IR

 

That's my 2c...

[Bandit]

So I updated/rebalanced my TFSA:

STXQUA: 35%

STXWDM: 40%

STXEMG: 10%

PTXTEN: 15%

 

More consolidated and to the point

 

Took a bit of a "gamble" on STXQUA. But when I saw the constituents and that a lot of them are in that share portfolio I put together I thought "why not"

[SaurusDNA]

I think your STXQUA gamble might just pay off. When Naspers and Steinhoff crashed, STXQUA stayed very green. It has a lovely mix of companies and I personally think it has a bright future.

 

I see you've dropped SYG4IR. It's done dismally since inception. I hope it recovers soon, but I am disappointed so far.

[Bundu]

I think your STXQUA gamble might just pay off. When Naspers and Steinhoff crashed, STXQUA stayed very green. It has a lovely mix of companies and I personally think it has a bright future.

 

I see you've dropped SYG4IR. It's done dismally since inception. I hope it recovers soon, but I am disappointed so far.

 

NPN crashed? NPN tracks tencent and the ZAR strengthened

[SaurusDNA]

 

NPN crashed? NPN tracks tencent and the ZAR strengthened

 

Yes, I suppose so.

 

I was just thinking that I might have too much in global ETFs at the moment. If you consider that Naspers is already a rand hedge, I might have too little locally.

 

Most of the ETFs are red because I've just re-balanced and sold my duplicated ETFs to buy new ones, but I'm hoping it won't take too long for them all to turn green...

 

 

If you don't count the rhodium, I have 70% global and 30% local. Too much global?

[Bandit]

Consolidating and rebalancing my TFSA like this easily cost me about 0.5% of my portfolio. Transaction fees are a real bitch but luckily EasyEquities is cheap. Imagine you did that on OST or FNB etc.

 

SYG4IR...well I've sold it off now so chances are it'll skyrocket. It just doesn't have a place in my portfolio since I don't want my offshore exposure too fragmented. Almost went ASHGEQ instead of WDM+EMG for the same reason.

[Bandit]

And I picked STXWDM over SYGWD because there's something about Sygnia managing ETFs that just doesn't feel right unless you use it via their Alchemy platform.

[The Local Tourist]

 

With your preferences I'd go for:

 

Local:

CTOP50

STXIND

(And maybe STXQUA also with your mix to balance performance and market cap.)

 

Global:

ASHGEQ (or STXWDM or SYGWD)

STXEMG

GLPROP

SYG4IR

 

That's my 2c...

 

So I have done some more reading and some more dart-throwing...Think I am going to move my stuff around and structure my portfolio as follows:

 

Local:

INDI25 - 20%

STXQUA - 20%

PTXTEN - 5%

 

International:

STXWDM - 20%

STXEMG - 20%

SYG4IR - 10%

GLPROP - 5%

 

Not sure if I am a bit light on property but I think this is a nice spread.

[SaurusDNA]

 

So I have done some more reading and some more dart-throwing...Think I am going to move my stuff around and structure my portfolio as follows:

 

Local:

INDI25 - 20%

STXQUA - 20%

PTXTEN - 5%

 

International:

STXWDM - 20%

STXEMG - 20%

SYG4IR - 10%

GLPROP - 5%

 

Not sure if I am a bit light on property but I think this is a nice spread.

 

I think this is a really good mix now. Looks well balanced with great potential.

 

I think this year will be an excellent one for STXQUA, STXEMG and INDI25 in particular, so I like the higher percentages that you've allocated to these right now. You could always buy more property in the future when it starts to pick up.