looking to put some $ into two fairly high risk ETFs. just wondering where you guys are investing in at the moment? im based in oz, and am looking at a REIT ETF (SLF) and emerging markets ETF by iShares (IEM). both have fairly low MERs as they are ETFs. ive already got an oz ETF managed by state street, which tracks the ASX 200. bought in March 09 and have been happy with it. interested to hear your thoughts.
I thought there are only three ETF’s on ASX? I had a look at them and there are some funds doing much better - like BlackRock Alpha Class D units(bought some units last month) and Platinums Japan Fund.
theres alot more than that. refer types on the right of the page: http://www.asx.com.au/products/etfs_etcs/types/australian_etfs.htm State street and vanguard do the oz based ones, and barclays run the overseas ones through ishares. there will always be funds that way outperform the ETFs but its up to you whether you want to take the risk for the additional MER. Platinum ARE pretty competitive though.
Thanks DJ - I meant index funds.
fwiw SLF has been killed over the past 18 months, and is nearly 70% composed of just 2 stocks - WDC and SGP. It all depends on what your viewpoint for commercial property is for the next 12 to 18 months (personally I think it’s only just beginning to crack - look at the amount of empty office space in most Australian cities). IEM is nice, but you should expect your return to be driven primarily by FX fluctuations (given the current strength of the AUD it may not be a bad time to invest). Though you can make your own by combining IAA (Asia 50) with IBK (BRIC) or IZZ (China) or something along those lines.
thanks newsuper. thats a good point about the reit ETF. its hardly diversified when it is comprised mainly of a few stocks - especially westfield which is unlikely to experience the bounceback of the ones that have been (potentially) unfairly punished (like MCW etc).