An ETF, or an Exchange-traded Fund, is an index-tracking investment vehicle listed on a major exchange. Indices can be a particular asset classes, such as stocks or bonds, or a in a particular segment of the market, such as technology, energy, or real estate. ETFs are funds that are traded like stocks but have the diversified portfolio structures of a mutual fund. ETFs provide passive exposure to any asset class by mirroring the returns of an index. For example, the SPDR SPY S&P 500 is an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&P 500.

ETFs offer diversification, higher liquidity than individual securities, and lower fees

An ETF typically charges low fees of around 0.15% to 0.25%. In comparison, mutual funds, which are already an expensive alternative to ETFs, have fees that range from 1.25 to 2.0%.

StashAway chooses the best-in-class ETFs on your behalf. We choose the largest, most liquid, most tradable, and most cost-effective ETFs with the lowest tracking error to the index and a sufficiently long track record.

We choose simple ETFs, which means they have no leverage or complex payoffs and have no ETNs to avoid credit risk of issuers.

Based on your risk preferences, selected goal, and current economic regime, our algorithm carefully picks the ETFs most suitable for your goal. This allows us to provide the most optimal diversification personalised to you.

As such, it is not possible for a customer to handpick the ETFs or the allocation.