Vanguard all-world ex. Canada

[aclarridge]

This may be a way for Canadian investors to obtain global equity exposure using fewer funds than they currently have. Check out this post from Canadian Couch Potato:

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2014/05/13/vanguard-goes-global-with-new-etfs/

Vanguard Canada announced today that it will launch five new ETFs later this year, the most interesting of which is the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex Canada. While full details have not been published yet, the preliminary prospectus explains the fund will track “the performance of a broad global equity index that focuses on developed and emerging markets, excluding Canada.” The management fee has been set at 0.25%.

This new ETF is not a Canadian wrapper for VXUS: it will include US stocks and exclude Canada, whereas VXUS does the opposite. But in many ways that’s even more convenient for Couch Potato investors who want to keep their holdings to a minimum. The fund can be combined with a Canadian equity ETF to get exposure to the whole world with just two funds instead of three or four.

I have my equities in a taxable account unfortunately with some substantial unrealized cap gains, but will probably find an opportune moment to switch over to this fund in the next year or two.

[daverobev]

Three fund portfolios, here we come!

[Ottawa]

Three fund portfolios, here we come!

Yeah, I'm considering what the implications of this will be for my portfolio - which I'd like to simplify a little.  The new ex-Canada offering is attractive (2877 companies and 0.25% MER) - and it is made up of about 50% USA (632 companies). 

I currently use VXUS (5667 companies and a 0.22% MER)) and VUN (3690 companies with a 0.17% MER).  It looks like it will be a little less diversified.  I'll probably see how it rolls out.