ETF Investing Strategy

Hi All,
As we are in lockdown I wanted to take the opportunity to ask other sharemarket investors some questions.. Note - I've worked in banking / finance sector and have been active property investor for ~2 decades, and have learned a lot being an active investor. I consider myself an expert on property, having owned residential property throughout NZ and commercial property. However when it comes to shares I'm no expert. I know that I don't want to invest in individual shares and I prefer and enjoy investing in ETF's.

Due to raising 3 young kids and with all the Gov't changes, I'm over tax changes and tweaks Govt will likely continue to make. I have been investing in Australasian and US share ETF via Smartshares since Covid hit last year. I'm going to continue to focus on passive path to building wealth. I'm very comfortable holding at least 80% of my wealth in shares and 20% cash long-term.

My kiwisaver is with Superlife high growth fund. As these funds are managed by Smartshares (owned by the NZX) it makes me think about the possible risks of investing more in Smartshare ETF (i.e. not diversifying providers in case something was ever to happen to the NZX?). ie Would you be comfortable having most of your wealth with 1 financial provider in Smartshares/Superlife?

I recently was recommended and read the book by Jim Collins (simple path to wealth) about investing solely in Vanguards VTI index long-term (I'm aware this is only US exposure). However the simple path really does resonate with me, in that I only want to invest in a few ETF funds for the long-term, ride out the bull and toughen up with the bear market hits. (I do currently own some Vanguard VTI and Smartshares US500 via Sharesies platform outside of Kiwisaver. I also have Hatch platform owned by Kiwi Wealth). Last week I attended Kernel Wealth seminar (low cost ETF provider) which was very interesting to consider as ETF provider.

That is the background. My questions are:
If you were to invest (next 10 years+) and you were to only choose 1-4 funds MAX in ETF what funds would you invest in, using what platform and what % percentage allocation in each?

Would you be comfortable investing only in Vanguards VTI and if so what provider / platform would you use?

Do you have a preference over owning the same ETF/shares on the ASX to the NYSE?

Are you comfortable investing in Smartshare Funds (paying 0.2% - 0.5%+) in management fees (which to be honest is a drag on your return over the long-term?)

OR would you invest Directly in likely Vanguard / iShares on ASX (e.g. Sharesies) or NYSE via Hatch where fund fees are as low as 0.3 over the long-term this adds up. (I am aware of the FIF / FDR rules for overseas investments for more than $50K etc).

I'm really wanting a simple set and forget investment strategy so I can continue regular investing while I'm working full time with no debt.

I would appreciate any thoughts on above queries.
Kind regards.

I would probably stick with Smartshares just to keep it simple. Although I currently have a portfolio of individual shares, going forward I'm planning to mainly top up my Smartshares ones (which are FIN (NZX Top 50), LIV (Healthcare innovation), and BOT (Automation and robotics)). Since my current portfolio is heavily based in NZ shares, I'll probably focus on the latter two to get more exposure on overseas stocks.

Thanks Cricketfan! I prefer to keep things simple.

I'm thinking Smartshares too to keep in keeping it simple & not worry about FIF rules. I prefer to only own 4-5 funds. I would be interested in investors thoughts for long-term growth (10+ years) 20% split between the following 5 funds investing on regular basis;

ASX200
NZ50 NZG
US500
EMF emerging markets
TWF Total World

Cheers

Forgot to mention.. 1st I will max out up to $50k in VTI is similar on ASX/NYSE before FIF rules apply. Then focus will be on NZX listed funds

While most of my investments are direct share holdings I have about 15% in PIE Funds. I first invested there in 2013 with no regrets.

https://www.piefunds.co.nz/Performance-and-Unit-Prices

Thanks 777, I didn’t know pie funds existed. They look good I just don’t like the ~1.55%+ annual fee on net asset value.

Are there are pie / index fund providers in NZ that have low fees apart from superlife, Smartshares & simplicity & kernel?

To be quite honest I never look at the fees. All I am interested in is the net returns.

Yes I'm re 400% up on my pie funds.There are 35 Smartshare ETFs on the NZX.

Betashares in Australia have some stuff on their website about how to construct various types of portfolio with (Betashares) ETFs.

www.betashares.com.au