I am currently deciding between VAS and IOZ. Or should I buy both? Hmm.
VAS is asx 300 while IOZ is asx 200, although it doesn't make that much of a difference. VAS mer is slightly cheaper than IOZ and seems to be more liquid.
There's no reason to buy both.
well, funny u should say that, I actually buy both.... my main reason is a bit paranoid, but as I'm concentrating a large chunk of my wealth in vanguard, I just wanted to diversify a bit in case the unthinkable happens and there is some kind of scandal / compliance problem / rogue trader / etc. As I said it is surely paranoid but then again i'm sure most Madoff investors never saw that coming either.... I also figured there might be some optimisation if ever needing to sell, along the lines of capital gains harvesting concept (not actually part of the plan though, which is to hold forever). Finally, as a relative newbie to etf's I wanted to compare them on portfolio turnover, franking levels, distributions, etc. Of course you can compare without investing, but in my experience you keep a keener eye on it when you have money down. The recent IOZ distribution was huge and nearly 80% capital gains, so they had massive portfolio churn in 2q'15 (perhaps rebalancing sales when the ASX peaked in april?) whereas VAS did not. I am still tempted to call iShares and ask for some explanation on this, if I ever get around to it.
So... perhaps there are some reasons, although not necessarily rational / good ones !