The Basics
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An Introduction to ETFs: Investing made simple.
What is an ETF? An ETF, or Exchange-Traded Fund, is a ready-made basket of investments all bundled together into a single product. You can think of them like off-the-shelf portfolios. Rather than, say, having to research and choose each UK company you want to invest in, an ETF might own a piece of every FTSE…
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The Two ETF Portfolio: simple is often best
Two ETFs – it’s all you’ll ever need. Much of the finance industry is hell-bent on convincing you that investing is complex, that what they do is difficult, that paying for their expertise is the only way to reach your financial goals. This is nonsense. We humans have a tendency to value complexity over simplicity.…
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What is Pound Cost Averaging?
An unexpected windfall — whether it be from an inheritance or a work bonus or a particularly fruitful search down the back of the couch — is a great opportunity to boost your investment portfolio. For many, it is this scenario that gives them their first opportunity to start investing. Aside from where to invest,…
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Active vs Passive Investing in 2023
Why do we keep chasing long-term outperformance when the data is clear?
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Active Exodus: the investor flight to passive accelerates
A persistent argument in the active vs. passive debate has been that, whilst active funds do tend to underperform in certain market conditions, come the next bear market the benefits of active management will shine through. In market downturns, so the argument goes, active funds are better at protecting capital and will outperform passive funds…
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Retirement Killer: are fund fees destroying your future wealth?
Why an extra 1% in fund fees can cost you nearly a third of your long-term returns. An extra 1%? It doesn’t sound like much, does it? People are often surprised just how big an impact on returns fund fees can have over the long term. The power of compounding, which has an increasing impact…
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The Best Global Equity ETFs (2023)
Global Equity ETFs allow you to capture the returns of the world’s stock markets, geographically diversifying your investments in one fell swoop.
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The Best Global Bond ETFs (2024)
How to choose a Global Bond ETF Like global equity ETFs, global bond ETFs allow instant geographical diversification, protecting your portfolio from localised volatility. Rather than concentrating your investments in your home country, global diversification is a way of reducing risk and smoothing returns. The bond portion of a long-term portfolio is a stabilising element…
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Shortfall: why more risk now means less risk later
Humans are short-term thinkers. We are focussed on recent history and we have a powerful aversion to risk that is not always rational. When it comes to your financial goals, there is an often underappreciated trade-off — taking on more risk now (volatility) can reduce risk in the future (shortfall), but this is never a…
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How to choose a UK Gilt ETF
Stocks and bonds went all Bonnie and Clyde in 2022, but bonds still have an important part to play in diversified investment portfolio. UK gilt ETFs don’t provide the geographical diversification of a global bond ETF, but for UK investors they are still a great option.
