Susie – who is clearly not here to fuck spiders – asks:
What kind of portfolio returns are you averaging with your investment mix?
I like a woman who is straight to the point.
And with the follow up:
Are you independent of Vanguard?
Let me address the second question first because it’s a piece of cake.
Vanguard Independence
I am completely, hopelessly, 100% independent of Vanguard and all other ETF providers.
Consider me the Solo Man of Australian Finance.
I write as ETF Bloke because I love youse all, not because Vanguard (or anyone else) is putting me up to it.
I write to help educate other Aussies about ETF’s and hopefully give people a few tips that they can use to better their financial futures.
The About and ETF Bloke’s Portfolio pages give some hints as to my background and motivations so have a read to satisfy your curiosity.
But remember at the end of the day I am just a normal bloke and none of what I say on here constitutes financial advice. You should consider getting independent advice that is specific to your personal situation.
ETF Bloke’s Portfolio Returns
Alright Suze, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
Portfolio returns since inception are 11.61% for the ETF Bloke portfolio.
Returns are real after taking into account management fees. ETF fees are reflected in the price that each ETF trades at on the market. You don’t have to do any fancy calculations to figure out your returns less management fees.
Below is how the portfolio looks in Sharesight, which is a program I use to track my total returns. Sensitive information has been removed of course!
And to my earlier point on independence, I don’t just hold Vanguard ETF’s in the portfolio. I also have one ETF from BetaShares and one ETF from iShares.
Most of the return has been from Capital Gains rather than Dividends. This is because the ETF Bloke portfolio is comprised of mostly international stocks and bonds.
International stocks tend to focus on capital gains due to tax advantages, whereas in Australia we focus on dividends (also due to tax advantages!)
When broken down into individual holdings the returns look like:
- VGS – Global Shares – 13.16%
- VAS – Aussie Shares – 11.17%
- IJR – US Small Cap – 9.98%
- VAF – Aussie Bonds – 7.31%
- VBND – Global Bonds – 5.56%
- VGE – Emerging Markets – 4.10%
- AAA – Cash – 1.91%
This ETF investing stuff goes alright.
OK I’m done, now it’s your turn Suze.
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