The Best All-in-One Exchange Traded Funds
What are some of the Best All-in-One Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to own?
How can some of these All-in-One ETFs make investing easier and much better for you?
Read on!
My investing approach
Passionate readers of this site will know I take what I’ve coined as a “hybrid approach” to investing:
- I invest in a number of Canadian dividend paying stocks for long-term growth and income.
- I also invest in some low-cost Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) for additional diversification.
This approach worked so well that:
We reached financial independence in 2024.
My wife retired in 2025.
I retired earlier this year in 2026.
Your mileage including your mix of stocks and ETFs like me, may vary.
That said, individual stock ownership is not for everyone.
Hardly.
While I accept all forms of investing and discussions on this site, I do confess and fully realize that many DIY investors may never want to own any individual stocks. They just don’t want the decisions involved with that.
First up, some reader comments in the past to me on this subject worth sharing….that framed the original post a few years ago:
Hi Mark,
I know you like buying and holding Canadian banks, utility companies and more for income. It seems to be a great way to invest but I have to be honest – doing so on my own seems overwhelming to a new investor like me. What if I get it wrong and mess things up? I’m thinking some of these new low-cost all-in-one ETFs might be right for me. Do you have any posts on these funds?
AND…
Hey Mark.
Love the site – what’s your take on Vanguard’s all-in-one funds? Do you think other companies are going to follow suit?
AND…
Hi Mark,
I’m a fan of the Vanguard all-in-one portfolios which I know you’ve covered before (VCNS, VBAL, VGRO). When they were launched, I was surprised they did not include an all-equity solution since it would help those who have taxable accounts but don’t want a fixed income drag there. Well, looks like they finally launched VEQT (updated: back in January 2019).
If you look at the total assets on Morningstar you will see VGRO’s $570.9bn exceeds VBAL ($392.0) and VCNS ($140.1) combined, so the market clearly favours a more aggressive tilt to these equity funds.
I wouldn’t encourage most investors to go 100% equity, for those looking for tax efficient allocations or who prefer not to have to rebalance a portfolio of individual ETFs (leading to market timing) I think the all in one funds are a great idea, and in my view, might even replace some advisor services. Thoughts? Maybe your take on these funds?
Great emails and great questions. Keep them coming!
In previous posts on my site I’ve discussed how many ETFs are enough, maybe a handful at best.
Well, given our recent wave of All-in-One ETFs on the market, the answer for you might be just one ETF.
Read why in this updated post for 2026 below.
There is beauty in simplicity: why All-in-One Exchange Traded Funds work!
Essentially, other than making regular investment contributions into these products within your accounts, these one-fund solutions do all the work for you.
- You no longer need to worry about getting fleeced by high fees by your financial advisor. You’ll see below that these funds have very low management costs.
- You no longer need to worry about portfolio re-balancing. These funds are designed to keep a particular asset allocation in-check for you.
- You no longer need to worry about asset location – what funds to put where and why. These funds are designed to be held in registered accounts (RRSP, TFSA, RESP, RRIF, and more) and non-registered accounts alike, although some funds might be a bit more tax efficient than others.
- You no longer need to fret about your risk tolerance or think about market timing. This is because the fund’s regular re-balancing act (for you) I mentioned above will keep your desired risk level in line with your investing goals.
- You no longer have to worry about your diversification. For some of these funds, you can obtain broad global and fixed income exposure as you wish to reduce investment risk while increasing your long-term return potential.
With the benefits of all-in-one ETFs in mind, here are my personal favourites and some rationales why you might want to consider them in terms of their asset mix below.
Vanguard All-in-One ETF solutions
| VBAL | A “traditional” balanced fund of 60% equities, 40% fixed income. |
| VGRO | A more aggressive mix of 80% equities, 20% fixed income. |
| VEQT | 100% equity. |
iShares All-in-One ETF solutions
These funds are designed to compete with other all-in-ones and include more favourites.
| XBAL | 60% equities, 40% fixed income. |
| XGRO | 80% equities, 20% fixed income. |
| XEQT | 100% equity. |
Need an ex-Canada All-in-One equity solution? Look at XAW
XAW
- Invest beyond Canada’s borders to own companies from around the world.
- Easy, simple global portfolio diversification without Canada – whereby you can buy and hold Canadian stocks at your leisure. This is what I do. 🙂
- Low-cost way to own U.S., international and emerging market stocks.
- A low management expense ratio of 0.22%
- 100% equities.
- Disclosure: I own this fund for almost 10-years to the time of this updated post.
BMO All-in-One ETF solutions
Not to be outdone…Bank of Montreal (BMO) has a few great, low-cost risk-based asset allocation ETFs to challenge the Vanguard and iShares funds above.
These funds are designed to compete with other all-in-ones and include more favourites.
| ZBAL | 60% equities, 40% fixed income. |
| ZGRO | 80% equities, 20% fixed income. |
| ZEQT | 100% equity. |
Horizons All-in-One ETF solutions
You get the idea above with “BAL”, “GRO” and “EQT” funds – Horizons has their menu too and HEQT is my favourite from them although I will list HBAL for context which was launched in 2018:
| HBAL | 60% equities, 40% fixed income. |
| HEQT | 100% equity. |
Best All-in-One ETFs summary
As a passionate buy-and-holder of many Canadian dividend paying stocks for income and growth, coupled with low-cost ETFs for extra diversification, I’m not quite ready to switch to one All-in-One fund for my entire portfolio.
Part of the reasoning is:
- Most of our Canadian stocks are in our taxable account, for tax efficiency, so I have lots of capital gains to consider if I sold those Canadian stocks and moved into one asset allocation ETF, and maybe just as importantly,
- I enjoy owning my basket of Canadian stocks for income and growth. This approach got us to early retirement – why change now?
That means I would have a bias to owning an “EQT” fund if I really had to pick just one.
An EQT fund will offer you and you’ll benefit from:
- A global basket of stocks for a very low-fee.
- No concerns about portfolio re-balancing.
- Global growth without adjusted cost base or other tax-headaches when the EQT fund is held inside a registered account.
- Global diversification.
Here is a summary table to start your research with my favs. in bold:
| Fund Mix/Fund Approach | Vanguard Canada | iShares | BMO | Horizons ETFs |
| Balanced | VBAL | XBAL | ZBAL | |
| Growth | VGRO | XGRO | ZGRO | |
| All Equity | VEQT | XEQT | ZEQT | HEQT |
| Ex-Canada (100% equity) | VXC | XAW |
In owning an EQT fund or low-cost XAW like I do you’ll need to learn to live with stocks but I think that’s a wise decision for long-term portfolio growth and wealth building.
What’s your take on all-in-one ETFs? Own some? Which one?
If you’re not a fan of these ETFs then tell me why?
Thanks for reading and happy investing!
Mark
Further Reading – This is How We Invest:
Good morning Mark , so after years of investing in RBC Dividend Fund / RBC Balance Fund and RBC Science Tech Fund threw the late 70s and 80s and into the 90s I did ok , then we finally paid off our mortgage and I really became focused on building our RRSPs .
Being self employed this now became paramount in our finances , all tha being said I was convinced that we should rebalance our holdings and direct some funds to the RBC European fund ; so upon the advise of our RBC Advisor we did and the fund tanked .
That was when we took matters into our own hands .
After reading a library of financial investing books , I came upon the book
“ Beat the Bank “
I can not recommend this book enough ,
Easy read , simple straightforward tactics and written by an owner not a renter ,
So big yes in this household to ETFs in particular
VFV and VCE ,
Our fixed income portion of our portfolios are held in
5 year GIC ladders , the reason is for us anyway
a GIC is something we understand and are comfortable with .
As far as diversification is concerned every component of the assets that make up both the
VFV and VCE etfs have a global presence.
So in conclusion best move we made
Thx for the article
T
Hi T,
Thanks for your detailed comment and sharing your journey.
Investing in big bank mutual funds like Science/Tech sounds very familiar to me in my 90s and early 2000s as well. 🙂
We took matters into our own hands around 2008. I started the blog in 2009 to chronicle things and hold myself accountable.
Yes, “ Beat the Bank ” is good. I’ve talked to Larry a few times over the years.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/beat-the-bank-simply-successful-investing-from-larry-bates/
Smart call on your fixed income too…but have you considered more diversification beyond USA (VFV) and Canada (VCE)?
As an example, emerging markets remain up quite a bit over both in 2026; XEC for example up almost 24% YTD.
Great sharing, thanks,
Mark
What about TD ETF’s?
Oh, big fan of them and I will be adding at least one or two to the mix for the coming year. Need to do a bit more research on them.
TEQT is a good one. It is 25% Canada, 55% US and the rest is other markets.
If your brokerage is with them, you can buy it commission-free which is nice. 🙂
They also have a traditional 60/40 pension-like TBAL ETF too.
Thank you for your reply. I was wondering as you mention Vanguard, ishares, BMO and Horizon but no comparison to TD. Yes, I am a customer with TD and use TD ETF’S. Btw TD investing customer service is exceptional.
Great stuff, Barbara and yes, they are a leading brokerage for a good reason!!
Check out today’s newsletter too!
Cheers,
Mark
Big fan of TD ETFs. TTP,TPU and TPE were a big part of my DC pension through work ( administered by manulife). When I retired this spring, I transferred all of those holdings to TD Waterhouse, to save on some of the fees manulife was charging. The newer TEQT is a great option, if you don’t want to do rebalancing on your own.
Well done, Reader J.
TEQT and the other “EQT” are great long-term, multi-decade growth options.
Lazy investing is creating a Canadian dividend portfolio. Buy all 6 banks, 3 pipelines, 2 or 3 utilities, (Emera & Fortis) and collect the dividends. If your building the portfolio just set it up to automatically re-invest the dividends. If your retired have them sent to your bank account. No re-balancing, no worries about asset allocation, no fear of missing out on world markets. Just look at the bank shares over the last 20 to 30 years. Never missed a dividend with regular increases. (Some banks have paid dividends for 200 years)
That is lazy investing and enjoying life.
I was hoping you and other full stock owners would chime in….
Yes, I too have and own all 6 banks, ENB, PPL, TRP and the list goes on. 🙂
I also believe in ex-Canada growth which is up for me about 10% YTD for very lazy investing.
Congrats on your financial success. You’ve done exceptionally well.
How long can this market keep doing this? We are up 17% ytd. My son is watching this and I tell him this is why you need to be in the market at all times.
I’ve been saying the same things, including on this site.
I own all your favs. too my friend – banks, pipes, FTS, CPX, EMA, etc.
POW too up 50%+ in 1-year.
My WCP on fire. CNQ rolling.
Boring XAW is up.
Something has to give eventually, just don’t know when.
Wars, unemployment, inflation, and markets are hot. I don’t get it. 🙂
I have no doubt your son, if he listens to you, is going to be just fine…
Mark
Hi Mark,
Do you intend on holding WCP for the longterm? I have some shares as well and not sure as of yet when I may sell, it’s in a non registered account. We also have a new position in a linen company , somewhat off the beaten path of the usual favs and it’s doing great.
Congrats on your retirement !! You are an inspiration to many of us. 🙂
Not sure, yet!
WAY up over the last 5-years on it but not likely to sell near-term. Let it ride. I have some capital gains to figure out for that one…all in taxable / non-reg. like you.
Thanks for the congrats – very kind. It’s nice to be retired and only “working” on the blog right now. 🙂
I appreciate your comments and readership.
Mark
I should have added: Happy RY dividend day!
Which pipelines do you invest in?
We have SOBO, ENB, TRP, and PPL
Hold them all here Div but mostly in taxable accounts for us.
We hold XEQT. XEQT is commission free at RBC.
It is our Vehicle fund. We bought a car for cash in 2022. Since then we save $800 from our OAS per month in XEQT, last year we trade in that car and bought a new one again, paying with that XEQT. So we just keep on “saving” that way until there is enough for a new car, so it makes sense feel less guilty about buying a new car so frequently! And I don’t have to ever budget for a big expense for a new car.
Good plan! When I start receiving my OAS in a year, I’m going to put it towards a floating dock at the cottage. What a country!
Good stuff. 🙂
Commission-free is great, nice Tommie.
I know a few folks that are in a good financial place in that whatever CPP and OAS income they get, they max out their TFSAs for the estate and basically spend the rest. Not a bad approach to be honest depending on your estate plans – goal to pass on wealth or not or anything to fight longevity risks.
What did you buy for a new car?
We like our 2024 PHEV – great on gas. 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Hi, we are immigrants so we do not get full OAS and CPP. So OAS save for the car, CPP is pocket money, so wife buy makeup and clothes, and I spend that on Computers or tools or books. For us it is important to have some money to spend or waste just like I want, without having to justify to a partner.
About the car, we bought a Ford Explorer because we “need” lot of space to pack for our Florida trip every year. The Ford is not so good on gas!
Hey, you are totally entitled to spend your money as you please – that’s a good thing. 🙂
As for the Ford, yes, lots on gas for sure!
Have you considered a PHEV or Hybrid at some point?
Cheers,
Mark
Yes, next car would likely be a PHEV, and that would likely be our last vehicle. At that time we would likely start saving money for a Optimus home robot!
Ha, yes, sounds about right.
My parents have a RAV4 Hybrid and love it.
We enjoy our PHEV as well – got it in 2024.
Cheers,
Mark
Typo:
iShares All-in-One ETF solutions
These funds are designed to compete with other all-in-ones and include more favourites.
XBAL 60% equities, 40% fixed income.
XGRO 80% equities, 20% fixed income.
VEQT 100% equity.
Got it, thanks!
Which ones do you own?
Hi Mark,
I am 42 and the majority of my investment in my RRSP is in VOO. I wanted to ask if it makes sense to move funds from VOO to VGRO or VBAL. I am a lazy investor and would like to set it and forget it. I don’t plan to withdraw anytime soon. I plan to work til 67.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Sam,
I think if you want to be uber-lazy and enjoy a world of stocks and returns from them, the VGRO or XGRO or related would would while dialing back the risk a bit from the U.S. market.
I really have no idea if long-term the U.S. market will continue to run like it has but if history is any guide, the U.S. market should deliver something in the range of 7-8% for the coming decades. If it will, who knows!?
All-in-one funds offer a great opportunity to set and forget based on your risk tolerance = 100% equities or 80% equities like the “GROs” offer or even more balanced via the “BALs”.
FWIW – my parents own VBAL in their RRIFs for lazy investing.
Mark
Hey Mark..thank you so much for all the information you put in and the hardwork you do to keep everyone updated. for me, the question i have is, there are so so many funds to choose from..but if i have to invest in only 5 funds (top 5 only) for my whole life, what would you recommend? we are couple aged around 44 years (Canadian)..want to put in those funds for long time and try not to take out and do DCA regularly.
Gosh, a gazillion of funds or ETFs to choose from. Right?
Well, I’m partial to the following for these reasons, I bit biased of course since I invest this way:
1. A good Canadian low-cost ETF = XIU, XIC, ZCN or VCN if you don not want to invest in any individual Canadian stocks.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/how-i-built-my-dividend-portfolio/
2. If you want more exposure beyond Canada, in an all-in-one fund, and your time horizon is “for your whole life” per se then depending on your tolerance for risk/stock market declines you could own XEQT, VEQT, HEQT which are 100% equity funds…and keep some cash on the sidelines for emergencies as you age, etc.
3. If you already own Canadian ETFs or stocks like I do, then XAW is a great all-in-one ex-Canada ETF (i.e., it owns a world of stocks but nothing in Canada) to get stock returns from around the world.
4. If you like some tech and you believe tech stocks will continue to thrive then QQQ or ZQQ might be good.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/then-and-now-qqq/
5. Finally, if you hvae lots of USD $$ and you primarily invest in your RRSP then you could consider a USD ETF like VTI, VOO or IVV.
Generally speaking, a Canadian-listed ETF is a great way to invest to obtain some growth (from stocks that the ETF owns) and to avoid USD $$ to CDN $$ currency conversions and just focus on your savings for investing. 🙂
I hope that helps, not advice of course in any personal way.
Thanks for your kind words and readership.
Mark
wow. great to get reply in a much faster timeframe. Thanks Mark
Np!
Again, just some ideas and rationales from my personal perspective including what I do or do not do!
Mark
I am really enjoying your website. All-in-one ETFs are great for all the reasons you mentioned. However, if you are retired, then you would need to sell shares regularly to generate the necessary cash to cover your expenses. It would need to be done annually or better yet quarterly. This is no different than owning any fund that does not generate sufficient income to cover your expenses. If you would like to try to keep your principal intact, then you would need to monitor and only sell shares after there has been growth (and use the cash to feed your cash wedge). So, the monitoring and decision making does not completely disappear. Do you agree? In my view, the only “solution” would be a global dividend all-in-one ETF as you mentioned on 19-Feb-2019 (which does not yet exist to my knowledge). Thanks Mark.
Thanks, PAV and correct.
If you own an all-in-one ETF like ZEQT, VEQT, etc. then yes, you will need to time when to sell shares for income – which can be dangerous of course. This is where for some all-in-one investors you must also have some bonds, fixed income, cash wedge, etc. since you will not know when stocks go up or down…
This is where some folks gravitate to some form of income investing in that you get a dividend or distribution, you can determine if you want to live off that income per se and not sell/touch the capital when you have enough invested. Pros and cons to that approach as well but I’ve largely landed in the camp that a mix of dividend income/growing dividend income + growth from some all-equity ETFs is a good hybrid mix for us.
We’ve been investing that way for about 15 years or so and have no intention of deviating from our hybrid investing strategy.
More here:
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/may-2024-dividend-income-update/
Thanks for your readership, PAV!
Mark
Hello Mark,
HEQT (formerly HGRO) is no longer a tax efficient corporate class ETF. Correct?
Any idea why they changed it? Did they create a new all-in-one corporate class ETF?
Your insight is appreciated.
Eric
Yes, I made some slight updates to my post to reflect that change as of Aug. 2023.
I don’t know for sure, I can ask (?) but I suspect it’s to compete with the other funds such as XEQT, VEQT, etc. since HEQT also offers a small distribution now (like those funds do). It could also be a sign they are not confident with any future regulatory changes in how corporate class funds are managed/regulated. Not too sure. Just speculating!
Mark
Thanks for the quick reply Mark. If you could inquire, that would be great. I emailed Horizon last week but have not heard back.
Do you still hold HEQT (HGRO) ?
What’s odd is that they still have the sector-focused corporate class ETFs – just not the all-in-one
Thx
eric
I own a very small bit in my LIRA right now and it converted from HGRO to HEQT. I keep it there for lazy returns but my LIRA value overall is very small and not really worth much when it comes my drawdown plan – barely a factor in fact.
I can ask them, give me a week or so. 🙂
Stay tuned!
Mark
Can you tell me is Vanguard VDY is an “all-in-one” ETF.
I’m a new investor in VDY and certainly love the monthly dividends.
Thank you Mark
VDY isn’t considered an all-in-one ETF because it does not include “a world of stocks” nor any fixed income like bonds, it only includes some Canadian stocks and even then, VDY has a screen just for certain Canadian stocks that pay a higher yield.
Remember that yield (income) and growth (price gains) are two sides of the same coin so essentially you can’t get lots of both. There are tradeoffs. So, if you get higher yield then usually you get lower price gains. Vice-versa.
I hope that helps!
Mark
More reading here too:
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/etfs/
Hi Mark
I own VTI, XIU and XAW. When I make contributions to my investment accounts I purchase only these. God willing, I plan to work another 10-12 years. Is it still ok to invest in these or should I consider balanced ETFs that have fixed income? Can you go over how XAW should be invested (I believe you once said buy in US funds but not sure if I have to do anything yearly or if I ever cash in the fund)?
Those are some great, low-cost ETFs. Kudos.
I personally don’t see any issue with any of them.
VTI would make the most sense to me inside an RRSP/RRIF, LIRA/LIF = no withholding taxes.
XIU could be held in any account (TFSA, RRSP, non-reg.). XIU is quite tax efficient in a taxable account.
XAW, I think could be held anywhere as well, but I would put that likely in my TFSA and RRSP first before taxable investing.
Did you check out my latest post? 🙂
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/should-you-own-canadian-listed-etfs-or-u-s-listed-etfs/
Not tax advice or investing advice, just some considerations I believe.
I have bought XAW for a few years now inside my TFSA and will intend to do the same in 2025 if I can save up the $$ to do so.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/then-and-now-xaw/
Hope that helps!
Happy investing,
Mark
My mistake. I meant to say çI purchase VTI inside my RSP in US funds. What happens to this ETF once I start withdrawing it in retirement?
VTI pays a small distribution so either you “live off distributions” from VTI or you sell units of VTI over time to meet your funding needs, or a bit of both. 🙂
Thoughts?
Mark
Hi Mark,
What are your thoughts on a ETF from Harvest -HTA Harvest Tech Achievers Growth & Income for Retired income seekers. Pays a monthly 9% dividends and has an annual return since inception 06/2017 of 14% and yes MER is high at .98%. But over all return I believe it’s justified?
Great comments as usual, Mark. There is a relatively new ETF called ANEW, the Pro-Shares Transformational ETF encompassing some 175 stocks. Their aim is to focus on future innovators that will transform the way we do things. It looks very appealing and growth oriented. It’s virtually impossible to say there is one best ETF on the market. For me personally, a few of the top ETF’s like Vanguard, ARK families, etc, are the best way to go and invest.
One side note is the increasing attention being paid on crypto currencies. The crypto world has attracted the attention of the billionaires and the large institutions with their larger and larger investments. May be this is the new wealth creation!!!! What are your thoughts? Thanks for your input and comments.
Good luck in your investing journey.
ANEW – interesting ticker Ken! Will read up on that one.
Ya, simple is good. VTI, XAW, or if you wish VEQT and others and go. Let those ETFs DRIP for as long as possible and wake up wealthy.
As with crypto, we’ll see. It might increase more over time for sure but I prefer investing in more real assets and tangible stuff for the most part – things people can’t live without. I also don’t like supporting the crypto machines too much (absolutely terrible for the environment). It will be interesting to look back in 10-20 years and see what happens!
Thanks for the kind words!
Good advice. But ain’t u heard? People have no patience with time being their wealth builder?
Ha, very true Bob. All about instant gratification!
Good day Mark, enjoy reading your articles and this one caught my attention. What I am looking for is an all equity ETF that covers all sectors, a mix of other countries and covered calls. We’ve been retired for 12 1/2 years and attempt to live off of dividends. We have quite the mix of ETFs in our TFSAs and non registered accounts from HHL, HPF, HBF, HTA, HMAX, ZWC, ZWA, ZWU and a few of the same but on the US dollar side. I’m just wondering if there is something easier but generates the same sort of income.
Thanks
Humm, that’s a lot of ETFs!
I guess I would have a few questions, Denis:
1. What is the total performance of each fund vs. a more boring, total return approach?
2. Are said funds (all of them) meeting your goals?
3. Are you willing to accept the risks, including lack of performance, that covered call ETFs may deliver?
I think on my Best ETFs page, I would personally favour a few ETFs – and I have – but my own ETFs could lag compared to others. There is no perfect portfolio of ETFs or stocks IMO.
I would have to research in detail an equity ETF that covers lots of countries and markets that is a covered call ETF. I can’t think of one off the top?!
Can you considered even a lower # of covered call ETFs or total # of ETFs given the risk of asset allocation ETFs in the recent years/since 2018/2019 or so?
Thanks for your readership and great questions. 🙂
Mark
Thanks for the feedback, you have me thinking and I need to do some research. But in my mind they are meeting my needs, we use the income to live off of plus we are generating US cash to travel. All of the funds are in the black and some have done quite well that I’ve held for over 10 years. But I need to do a detailed comparison to validate in my mind that this approach gives me the best bang for my buck.
Thanks for reading and providing feedback.
All good. The key is your needs are being met and also, you’re aware of any risks with your approach/the downside potential.
For the record, at times, my DIY stocks don’t always best the TSX. It happens. But in other time-periods, I’m beating the index. That happens too.
But generally speaking:
1. Our taxable accounts combined = CDN stocks are tracking largely the same as XIU (my benchmark).
2. Our RRSPs are meeting some risk-based goals including cash/cash equivalents for future drawdowns.
3. My LIRA is doing just fine with some HEQT in it.
4. Our TFSAs are doing well with a desired mix of income and growth if/when we need it with 100% equities.
Those are our needs and goals.
Best wishes back!
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for this post. Would you consider an all in one ETF like VGRO or XGRO as good one to hold in a non-registered account? I feel like unless you go for swap ETFs, you will be taxed regardless of what option you choose in this type of account.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
I think a set and forget VGRO or XGRO or any “GRO” fund is very smart for anyone that doesn’t want to worry about rebalancing or stock picking decisions!
Hey Mark I been reading you blog for sometime now and I think you are doing a great job! ishare has now all equity portfolio XEQT just like Vanguard VEQT. I like ishare because of theirs slightly lower MER!
What’s your opinion on this new fund.
Thanks very much 🙂
OJ – I’m a fan of VEQT for folks that want to keep things very simple.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/the-best-all-in-one-exchange-traded-funds-etfs/
I haven’t written about XEQT but as a fund of iShares funds, very similar structure.
https://www.blackrock.com/ca/individual/en/products/309480/
I like the MER for sure and the 25% allocation to Canada seems about right for most passive investors!
Seems like a great new all-in-one fund I need to write about 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Hey Mark, Big fan of all in one Vanguard ETF’s
I’m retired have 100K RRSP to invest and won’t need money
for 10yrs. I like VEQT, but leaning to VBAL for safety, any thoughts
would be appreciated. Thx. Sidd
Both are different for sure Sidd (VBAL is more balanced) but if you fear any major stock market calamity, likely a “BAL” fund such as VBAL or XBAL or ZBAL might be a better risk adverse fit. Have you assessed that – your risk tolerance?
Hey Mark, I like the all in one etf, How about a small portion for Vanguard VRE? Thx. Sidd
Nothing wrong with VRE. Great fund for 5-10% of the portfolio I think!
I like XRE and ZRE for REITs as well but I’ve decided to unbundle my Canadian ETF for income:
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/have-you-considered-unbundling-your-canadian-etf-for-income/
Thanks, well, like I said, that’s my situation straight to the point nothing more or less and free to move in any direction. This thought came to mind from the newbie research I’ve been doing and I guess was just looking for some validity, it feels right though without having to get too involved in a system I moderately understand..
Thanks for checking in and all the best to you too Mark, Peace!
Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam is a great book on indexing, low-cost ETFs and provides a great read for lower-cost investing and why.
Check that out since for $20 it might provide much more validity related to an all-in-one fund. Cheap cost for a big decision. I’ve had Andrew on my site a few sites, use the search or archives to find articles. He’s an interesting dude and is passionate to help retail investors.
Cheers,
Mark
Hi, Believe it or not that title rang a bell and when I checked my shelf it turns out I have it. When I first started dabbling around looking for info a few years ago, I bought it off Amazon. In fact it’s the only book I ever bought since there’s so much on the Net. Apparently I bookmarked and stopped reading it at page 33 (Rule 3 – Small Percentages Pack Big Punches). But now I definitely have a renewed interest! So thanks again Mark.. glad I messed around with some queries in the search engine the other day and came across your site. The clean/ simple design and your decent responses to others made it comfortable to reach out and shoot you a message. Love coming across sites like yours, Regards.
Sweet, love the feedback VanDex – thanks! Mark
Hi Mark – straight to the point. 50 yrs. old, newbie – I have $250,000 in bank savings, $65,000 in a TFSA, no debt, no investments and mortgage free. I was thinking of transferring the $65,000 TFSA into an online broker account and buying VEQT and maxing out the TFSA contribution room each year for the next 20 years. The remaining savings could be used for having cash on hand in a 2-3% savings account to help supplement income since contract work is up and down. Sound reasonable? Thanks for your website!
Geez VanDex – I can’t offer advice for many reasons and wouldn’t without knowing far more details but I can say, maxing out for you TFSA is always a GREAT thing and using an all-in-one is a very easy set-and-forget long-term solution that should deliver (without investor tinkering of course!) 6-8% returns over the next decade or so!
If your work is up and down – definitely consider stashing some cash in an emergency fund but ultimately your call!
Awesome work on debt-free and no mortgage. You’re in charge!
All the best,
Mark
The i shares XBAL has out performed both Vanguard VBAL and the BMO ZBAL. I am considering using this all in one product and wondering if I should purchase all three. I will be selling my current portfolio of ETF and Mutual Funds and plan on purchasing both Candian Dividend Stocks (50 percent) and the rest in the all in one ETF. I am retired and like this approach. Your thoughts.
Hey Kerry these funds track almost identical indexes. Owning 3 -BAL funds defeats the whole purpose of an all-in-one fund; you’d be better off switching to a 3 fund like ZCN/XAW/ZAG for lower fees if you prefer owning 3 separate ETFs.
Certainly a 3-fund ETF portfolio might provide more opportunities to rebalance and be a bit more strategic when it comes withholding tax efficiency but given that work involved, I personally think for any newbie investor or experienced investor that doesn’t want those headaches some of these all-in-one funds are ideal. Set, save, invest and forget.
Mark
Don’t you bear double fees in this scenario – 0.25 with VGRO + whatever fees each component fund charges?
For withholding taxes Anthony – yes – just like other Canadian ETFs that hold U.S. or international assets but underlying fees associated other money management and portfolio re-balancing charges – not to my knowledge.
Great post Mark. Wondering if you have a favourite provider for One Ticket? I know they are all quite similar and the fees will not determine the total return winner over time. The fees are all quite close. The subtle asset allocation differences will determine the total return ‘winner’ and the creator of the best risk-adjusted returns
Wondering who you and your readers would choose as a favourite and why.
For US holdings. Keep in mind that iShares US does have US dollar One Ticket options as well.
Thanks.
I’m a huge fan of the “GROs” for many investors and I might even consider a VEQT for myself – for the reason I put into the post.
Time will tell! 🙂
Hey Dale,
Good point those products are available at US side of Ishares. That could work great for me to replace my US & int USD$ etfs now leaving our CDN stocks intact and keeping a desirable allocation mix with something like AOR however….I’m less crazy over not holding mostly CDN bonds(am gravitating to mostly gics currently), I don’t like my fees doubling, and don’t like income generated being cut significantly. Simpler, yes, better….not so sure for us. But I’m not ruling it out completely for the future.
You’re right asset mix could be a differentiator. Trouble is no knows in advance what’s better. Seems to me fees are known and may be the most important factor deciding which, although a very small difference anyhow.
Hi RBull, yes the fees are almost exact and will be eaten up by the asset allocation in a heartbeat. The Tangerine Portfolio at 1.07% essentially matched the Canadian Couch Potato Model Portfolios in 2018.
Simplicity won. They probably beat all of the lower fee Robo’s.
All said, I’m a fan of Vanguard with the addition of foreign bonds. Plus they have the 5 risk levels.
Not quite following what you’re saying on Vanguard and foreign bonds. Which etf are you suggesting?
5 risk? Are you referring to their chart showing risk level.
Yes, simplicity has its place.
Compared to PWL model 60/40 my portfolio lost a bit to them in 2018, but beat them 3 yr, 5yr and 10yr, but not by much.
Great article Mark. Thanks for putting the time into creating each article. Love watching these financial companies now competing to create better products. Choices of where to put your money are overwhelming. It will very interesting to see how these new ETF’s from Vangaurd do and how they pressure the banking giants to respond. The more diversification through various financial products you take the better you protect yourself but the poorer your returns will likely be. You can end up watering down everything. It’s hard to find that balance. Simple is better and for now I choose to remain stick with my DGI plan. Find that I am becoming addicted to the dividends.
Thanks Gruff.
I think that’s what makes these new all-in-one ETF choices – even though there are a few of them more appealing. Most investors have no time or inclination to re-balance their portfolio.
Heck, I love investing and it’s hard to keep track of stuff to ensure beyond VYM, other, I do not exceed 5% of my portfolio with any 1 stock.
As I get older, I’m learning simple is better and avoiding complexity usually is the best recipe for many of life’s lessons 🙂
For now, my dividend portfolio is rather simple, and growing, every month. Don’t fix what isn’t broken either!
And VYM is US listed. It qualifies for the US Canada reciprocal tax treaty – return of dividend withholding taxes if held in an RRSP account. Canadian listed ETFs (wrap products with US) do not is my understanding.
Yes, VYM is U.S. listed and that is one of my U.S. ETFs. 3% yield and growth like VTI. Hard to beat for 0.08% MER!
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/etfs/
CDN ETF wrap products are subject to withholding taxes – for those U.S. and international assets held within the product. There are a few great white papers about that from PWL.
Thanks for being a fan!
HI mark, you made my night reading ur post about etfs.. I basically own the same Canadian dividend stocks you own and 2 etfs vgro & vfv, I’m debating about buying VEQT but I have vgro and its 80% equities vs 100% equity of VEQT . I was looking at the 2 etfs you own vym & hdv, Is it good to Own atleast 1 American etf? I’m just stumped at what one I should buy….there’s so many etfs out there.
I gravitated to VYM and HDV for both income and growth. I love the low fees as well. 0.08% each. I own these to be tax efficient (inside RRSP). In the coming years we’ll see what I decide re: VEQT or a “GRO” ETF. All great choices!
I meant XWD. (Fat fingers)
What is the difference between VEQT and XWF or XAW?
From what I can see, VEQT is 4 Vanguard funds 100% stocks; 40% US; 30% Canada, the rest international.
iShares XWD is much more of a world fund – only 3-4% Canada – representing largely the world markets. IVV ETF (S&P 500 ETF) is about 60% of the XWD fund so largely as the U.S. market goes, so goes the XWD fund. MER = 0.47% as well.
iShares XAW is an ex-Canada fund (no Canadian component) so you’re largely betting on everything else. It’s a fund of 6 iShares funds for those that already own Canadian funds/stocks. It also owns about 45-50% of IVV ETF (S&P 500 ETF). MER = low 0.22%.
Hope that helps!
Mark
Hi Mark. I have put my husband’s TFSA entirely in VGRO because I don’t want to take a lot of time to manage it. Plus, he should be able to deal with it himself in case I get mowed down by a snowplow on one of my walks :).
Ouch but I get your point 🙂 I think any of the “GRO” funds are great automatic asset allocators for buying, holding and simply adding to the fund over time. Very sleep easy investing. Thanks Marie!
Thank you Mark. As usual your info comes at a time where I am addessing similar concerns. The new ETFs you have described might be just the ticket for my portfolio. I maintain a 60% equity and a 40% fixed income split and rebalance perhaps twice a year depending on the market. The trick is not the equity portion but the fixed income. I am tired of chasing GICs and their low rates. In addition, due to the volatility of the market, I do not believe in locking in my cash or cash equivalent side in any long term GIC. This means I have several of them coming due at different times and I have to go through all the research all over again. I am retired so it is important to keep a good foundation to ride the ups and downs of the market. So after having an emergency fund and a cost of living fund equivalent to 3 years of living expenses, I am looking for simplicity. This might be it
I think these “BAL” or “GRO” funds offer excellent options for many types of investors – including anyone that wants simplicity.
I have a bias to dividend investing (and some U.S. ETFs as you might know from the site) but it might not always be that way. If things change, I could definitely see myself investing in a VEQT for me given I have a small company pension in my future to offset any bond allocation owned personally.
The thing I think about is my cash position. How much of an emergency fund would a retiree need with a “BAL” or “GRO” product? Maybe 1 year or so worth? That’s my thinking – a cash wedge of 1 year’s worth of expenses (say $50K or so) and then a “live off dividends” approach.
I think an emergency fund/cash wedge of 3 years is very, very healthy and likely very solid approach – conservative when it comes to investing is usually very good!
Best wishes.
Yes, these are great options for plenty of people, for lots of reasons you’ve outlined. I’ve been really thinking about this myself, to simplify but there are many, many issues for those having already accumulated considerable assets. I’ve done a bunch of number crunching and scenarios to figure out how this might work for us at some point.
Interesting at my broker RBCDI the BMO ones show but no information or any details whatsoever are shown- not available to buy. Too new?
The Vanguard ones are MER .25, I believe BMO is .20 and shockingly Ishares XGRO was ME .18 and MER .80, XBal .18 and MER .75.
Very strange indeed as RBC and ishares teamed up to market these funds. Hopefully this is wrong and RBCDI is not gouging. Would be curious to hear what other brokers charge on these ishares products.
The BMO products are very, very new. As in a week old I recall. I wanted to post this article to get ahead of the curve.
Yes, good point on the MERs being a bit higher than the just the management fee.
I’ve considered a VEQT or other for my portfolio but I’m just not there yet. I could see myself considering a “GRO” product in the coming years to simplify my wife’s portfolio for ease of use. Then again, I love my dividend paying stocks. It’s a mental block mostly but the companies I own raise their dividends often.
I need to write about my ultimate dividend ETF as some point!
I figured that’s the case with BMO funds.
It’s the RBC ishares ones that were crazy. Curious if you check them out at your broker.
I don’t know I’m there yet. I was doing all my figuring based on keeping my CDN stocks, how that affected geographic and asset allocations, and how much FI (cash HISA or equiv etc) I would need to keep. That’s why VGRO or more likely VBAL because equities would be boosted by CDN stocks, but it’s tough to make this work sensibly. In my modeling, with VBAL my costs would go up a lot -nearly double, income generated down by over 10%+ as far as I could accurately calculate (but not a deal breaker with a total return mentality), I would lose the non hedged large exposure to the US I like etc. I did my own calculations and question the yields mentioned on ishares. So definitely some issues for me, but I definitely like the ETF simplicity part, but getting there is complicated.
Definitely a mindset shift I would have to make with a more total return approach vs. my cashflow approach. I’m not interested in that change right now and I suspect my CDN portfolio will continue to increase dividends over time. That said, as I get older, simplicity might be good for me hence the consideration of a VEQT in my RRSP at some point for just growth and no currency exchanges to worry about.
That mindset is hard to change, but I know for us ultimately it’s the correct path.
You can tell from my answer above I also like my CDN dividend co’s.
I agree there’s going to be more all in one choices coming. Maybe that all in one dividend etf will come.
At some point we will change for simplicity. When?
I will know it when I see it but a global all-in-one dividend ETF under 20 basis points with at least 4% yield would be nice 🙂
Might be a tall order on both the yield and the costs, but who knows.
Thanks for posting this, I’m a big fan of these for sure. I agree with all your points about the benefits. Another benefit for those with smaller portfolios is that they bring down the point at which these ETFs are more cost effective than index mutual funds – a single trading commission to purchase rather than 3-5 with individual ETFs. For those with larger, taxable accounts, they simplify keeping track of ACBs.
It’s nice to see BMO and iShares launch their versions of the portfolios Vanguard initiated. Time will tell if Vanguard will need to be more aggressive in their fees to maintain the lead. I was surprised when Vanguard’s lineup was launched that there was no 100% equity solution offered since aggressive equity options are a standard in fund of fund solutions. Now that it is here, I expect to see BMO and iShares have to catch up again.
I think for investors worried about all the things I wrote about in the post – it’s really hard to go wrong with any the of the “GROs” BB.
I love the fact that BMO and iShares offer some competition.
I fully expect to see more all-in-one solutions in the future – other companies would be smart to offer an all-in-one dividend ETF 🙂
Best wishes and thanks for being an insightful fan.
Agreed about the dividend portfolio!
For those looking for retirement income (vs. total return growth) a dividend growth portfolio would be fantastic. I guess that would no longer be a passive index but would need to be some rules-based approach. And unless the Cdn component could qualify for preferential treatment, it probably wouldn’t be as advantageous as building your own.
I am interested in these funds, but as i already hold funds, i am freaked out at the thought of selling all my funds and rebuying. How do you know when a good t ime to pull the plug is?
To be honest Christina, there is never really an ideal time to sell assets or buy assets – since if we could all predict the future – we’d all be very well off.
That said, this post was not meant to encourage every reader to change their game plan but rather re-evaluate it and consider all-in-one funds – to see if such products are right for them. Do you struggle with re-balancing your portfolio? Portfolio asset location? Do you spend time worrying about your portfolio including when to buy or sell? If so, such funds could be a decent candidate for you.
Many articles suggest to re-balance your portfolio quarterly or semi-annually. So, if you feel these fund might suit your investing objectives better, you could consider selling existing assets quarterly and buying the new fund around the same time. By doing so you’ve essentially created a plan to turnover the portfolio; and in the process, you might worry less about “selling high” and “buying low” since barely anyone ever can get that right!
Happy investing,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for putting them together. I have just started direct investing and decided to invest passively. I have great respect for the moderates teaching to avoid the temptation to bit the index. I started with VGRO, (wanted something like VEQT, which was not available then).
Starting this year, however, I have started buying actively too, like some TD and ENB. I am going active for dividend income in the first place. But there are other reasons, too. The ETFs are not DRIP eligible, which makes me pay commissions each time I plan to reinvest. More, the ETFs do not have any options, so no additional income.
Overall, however, life is simpler with VGRO, perhaps switching to VEQT.
Happy to put this together for investors. We should all be aware how high financial fees can kill portfolio values over time!
I could see myself going with VEQT eventually (to simplify things for my wife actually – priority #1 = happy wife, happy life) although for now we’ll continue to own VYM, HDV; our U.S. stocks, and our 30-odd individual CDN stocks. The ability to reinvest dividends and distributions suits me well PD.
Thanks for being a fan.