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By Brian Butchart, Managing Director and CFP®, Brenthurst Wealth Management
This investment offers local investors exposure to global top index trackers and ETFs, including Vanguard and Black Rock.
Global politics and economics have caused volatility in financial markets in recent times and reports of an expected slowdown have made investors very nervous. During such times of turmoil and uncertainty, an effective diversified strategy and prudent fund selection can provide assurance to manage those nerves.
A popular investment solution to reduce costs and provide effective diversifica- tion are index tracker- and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). An ETF is a fund which tracks a stock market index and trades like regular stocks on the exchange, whereas index funds track the performance of a benchmark index of the mar- ket. Research has shown some passive investment solutions have surpassed some of their active counterparts in terms of capital and income growth and as a result, passive solutions have become increasingly popular.
The debate between active vs passive has been raging on for decades. The late John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, was the poster boy for promoting low-cost index funds and there is no doubt, based on historical evidence, that index trackers are effective as part of a long-term portfolio to provide cost effective accessibility to multiple asset classes and markets across the world. Vanguard, one of the best-known and established passive asset managers, has been very successful in delivering long-term returns to its clients.
The greatest benefit of these types of products is they provide multi-company, industry, country and tradeable asset class exposure at a relatively low cost. The range of nuances within these offerings has also expanded, including focus areas like dividend yield, volume, quality or geography, with access to multiple themes such as renewable energy, robotics or healthcare to name a few.
ETFs and index trackers are usually low cost, with significantly lower fees than those of actively- managed funds. They are easy to understand and use, and investors’ expectations are easy to man- age. If you invest in a market index, you know you are going to get the market index return (less a small fee). This all means diversification or risk management can start at a much simpler level. ETFs and trackers allow clients to pool their money in order to allow smaller investors access to asset classes which may be difficult to hold in small denominations.
Passive investors can also have very different returns, as there are multiple indexes that can be tracked and an explosion of ETFs to choose from. This is especially relevant, as passive investment solutions have increased significantly over the past ten years. This means the returns passive investors achieve might vary across the board, depending on which index, asset, ETF or market you are tracking.
Therefore, skilled active managers can still add significant value and alpha to long-term portfolios, and be supportive of an investment solution which combines both active and passive strate- gies.
There are a number of ETF and tracker funds offer- ing a multitude of investment opportunities and solutions globally, most of which, such as the Vanguard range of index funds, are not Financial Sector Conduct Authority approved. For these reasons and to further ease access to low cost international equity solutions, Brenthurst established its own fund of this nature in 2018, in association with Momentum Global Investment Management (MGIM), called the Brenthurst Global Equity Fund.
This unique opportunity allows investment into passive ETFs and trackers, actively managed by Glyn Owen at MGIM.
This fund is used as part of our core portfolio together with other passive- and actively-managed funds to construct bespoke international invest- ment strategies. This investment offers local inves- tors exposure to the top index trackers and ETFs in the world, including Vanguard, Black Rock and other global giants.
It not only offers investors exposure to global stock markets but as far as we can determine, it is the only FSCA-approved international fund investing entirely in ETFs and trackers. The fund is the latest addition to our range of funds giving exposure to leading companies, regions, currencies and countries at a fraction of the cost of other internationally-managed equity funds.
THE FUND DELIVERED A STELLAR 17% YEAR-TO-DATE RETURN, WITH ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT IN EXCESS OF $18 MILLION AND GAINING TRACTION.
This combination of both passive and active strategies complements one another and potentially offers superior long-term outcomes, as opposed to either investment strategy in isolation.
Any investment strategy however should always be carefully considered in consultation with an advisor, who can address the risks and assess suitability to individual circumstances.
This post and content is written, sponsored and provided by Brenthurst Wealth Management.
