Just a few ETFs can cover the full risk/reward spectrum in asset allocation.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have grown dramatically in popularity and range over the last few years. However, when Australian investors think about ETFs, they still typically have equities in mind, especially international equities.
Portfolio diversification means having your money invested in a range of asset classes.
With the spread of ETFs now available on ASX, offering exposure not just to equities but also to cash, bonds, hybrids and even commodities, today it’s possible to construct a diversified investment portfolio using just a few ETFs.
In fact, it’s even possible to get a diversified investment portfolio these days using a single ETF – without having to worry about asset allocation or choice of investment markets.
Full risk/reward spectrum: from shares to cash
Cash and Australian equities are examples of two asset classes with very different risk/return characteristics.
At one end of the risk/return spectrum, equities can be volatile – but also tend to offer relatively high returns compared to cash kept in the bank. In the 10 years to 31 December 2020, for example, Australian shares [1] generated a yearly return of 7.8 per cent. In three of those years, returns were greater than 20 per cent, though in two years returns were negative.
Investors can gain exposure to the top 200 companies on the Australian sharemarket in a single ASX trade, via the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) at a management fee of just 0.07 per cent per annum. [2]
At the other end of the spectrum, over the same period, the compound annual return from cash (as conventionally measured among fund managers by an index of short-term bank debt securities called “bank bills”) was only 2.4 per cent, though with no negative-return year. Cash returns in more recent years have been even lower, thanks to the decline in interest rates.
If you simply want to invest some of your money in cash, that’s also possible through an ETF, such as the BetaShares Australian High Interest Cash ETF (ASX: AAA) and often with attractive yields compared to locking your money up in more inflexible term deposits.
Diversification doesn’t end there. Other asset classes, all of which can be invested conveniently and cost-effectively via ETFs, include:
- international equities
- Australian and international fixed-rate bonds
- hybrids
- currencies, and
- commodities.
International equities tend to be as volatile as Australian equities and have offered similar returns over time – but the beauty of blending them with Australian equities is that it can lower overall return volatility, as the returns of the two are not perfectly correlated.
A key reason for the differences between the performance of Australian and international sharemarkets is that the Australian market is top-heavy in banking and resource stocks, while global markets – especially the US – typically have a higher weighting in technology stocks.
Australian investors could consider combining an Australian equities exposure, such as A200, with one or more ETFs offering international exposure. There is a wide range of ETFs offering international exposure, including to:
- the US market
- global shares
- particular regions, such as emerging markets, or countries, and
- sectors, such as global banks.
Spreading your equities allocation across several ETFs reduces your exposure to any one sector or market doing especially poorly at any given time.
Looking beyond equities
Arguably one of the best ways to diversify a share portfolio is to add fixed-rate bonds. Australian bonds [3] produced returns of 5.6 per cent each year over the decade to 31 December 2020, with no negative-return years – though lower interest rates mean likely returns over the next few years will be less than that.
Bonds have tended to do best when interest rates are falling, which has also happened to be when economic growth and equities have been weak. Although it’s not always the case, equities and bonds have typically enjoyed negatively correlated returns – especially in major risk-off periods such as last year’s Covid crash and the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago.
Bonds have tended to offer lower returns than equities over time, but their volatility has also been lower. And the beauty of the negative-return correlation with equities is that blending exposure to both asset classes has the potential to improve “risk-adjusted” portfolio returns – helping to lower portfolio volatility significantly without giving up much return.
ETFs are available on the ASX that offer exposure to corporate and government bonds, Australian and international.
Finding a middle ground – hybrids
Hybrid securities (or “hybrids”) are a relatively new type of asset-class available for exposure through ETFs. They have risk/return features somewhere between those of traditional fixed-rate bonds and equities.
Especially in these income-challenged times, hybrids can offer attractive income returns – including franking credits – typically above those of cash and fixed-rate bonds, and with return volatility somewhere between that of bonds and equities. The BetaShares Active Australian Hybrids Fund (managed fund) (ASX: HBRD) invests in a diversified portfolio of hybrid securities, actively managed with the aim of reducing the volatility and risk associated with owning hybrids directly.
What a diversified portfolio looks like
The exact blend of asset classes right for you will depend on your risk profile and investment goals.
A typical “balanced” portfolio might have around 50-70 per cent exposure to equities, with 20- 40 per cent exposure to bonds – split roughly evenly between Australian and global markets – with the remainder in cash.
If you’re prepared to tolerate greater return volatility – in exchange for higher long-run expected returns – you could dial up your exposure to equites, while if you are more risk averse, you might dial it down.
You might elect to blend in some hybrid exposure in place of some of your bond and/or equity allocation. And more adventurous investors might even add commodity exposure, such as an ETF that invests in gold bullion.
Portfolio maintenance
To ensure your asset allocation remains in the range you prefer, it’s important to review and rebalance your portfolio over time. For example, if equities have had an especially strong year, they may now represent a higher proportion of your portfolio than you would like. You might consider reducing this exposure to a level you are comfortable with.
If your equities exposure is in the form of a few ETFs, this adjustment is easy to make, requiring only a small number of transactions. Compare this with a direct holding of multiple individual shares, which could require many transactions if each holding is to be reduced proportionally.
Summary
The beauty of ETFs is that a diversified portfolio with exposure to a range of asset classes is possible using only a handful of investments easily accessible on ASX. ETFs make it simple and cost-effective to construct a diversified portfolio, and to maintain your desired asset allocation over time.