What's the Risk?

Watch episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/p54lPItZSuY

Published May 2025.

Index funds are great investment tools to pursue your investment goals, especially if you can buy one that covers the global investment opportunity set, but that can be hard to do.

We take a look some various quirks around index funds, that highlight the reality that no index is truly passive and we're all faced with making active choices as investors.

It's important to remember that index providers don't have any interest in the needs of the end investor, it's the index manager who selects which index they will track and provide that tracking fund to the public, which is a commercial decision. 

This means investors are often presented with narrower options, that can tempt us to chase fads. And if an index fund doesn't take off, or something more exciting comes along, the index manager can change the index it tracks and leave investors making another choice about what to do with their money. 

None of this is to say that investors shouldn't use index funds, but that it's a good idea to find the broadest possible index available and remain disciplined pursuing your financial and investment goals.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.   

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Published March 2025. Market volatility isn't a new thing, it's the price of admission when investing. But every bout of volatility or even a correction may feel different, and incredibly important, but history has shown markets always price in new information and move on.

As market volatility prompts reactions from investors, it's going to tell investors something about themselves. While investors should construct their portfolios and address their super allocation according to their goals and risk tolerance, often they pick something with the highest return number. They then get a shock when it also delivers them volatility they weren't expecting.

We look at some issues around this. We highlight things investors should consider either now, or preferably before they build a portfolio, or change their superannuation to a very aggressive option, just because someone told them they should.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.

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Published March 2025. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the historic performance of the MSCI World ex Australia Small Cap Quality 150 Index. Some people would know an ETF that seeks to track the performance of this index as VanEck's QSML ETF.

We briefly look at how the index is constructed by MSCI, but you can refer back to our pervious video on MSCI World ex Australia Quality Index for a better discussion on quality.

The index itself draws from MSCI World ex Australia Small Cap Index, so we compare the performance of the two indices since January 1999.

If we take MSCI's screen for quality and size, there certainly appears to have been a premium attached to it over this time period.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

MSCI World ex Australia Small Cap Quality 150 Index (AUD) January 1999 – December 2024: Country Code AA. Total Returns Net Dividends in AUD

Source: MSCI MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved.

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Watch episode on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMkt4febfWg

Published February 2025. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the historic performance of the MSCI World ex Australia Quality Index. Some people would know an ETF that seeks to track the performance of this index as VanEck's QUAL ETF.

We look at the definition of quality by MSCI and Peter discusses how that compares to the profitability factor. The index itself draws from MSCI World ex Australia, so we compare the performance of the two indices since December 1994.

If we take MSCI's screen for quality, there certainly appears to have been a premium attached to it over this time period.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

MSCI World ex Australia Quality NR Index AUD. December 1994 – December 2024: Country Code AA. Total Returns Net Dividends in AUD

Source: MSCI MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved

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Published February 2025. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the historic performance of the Solactive Australia 200 Index, which some investors may know is tracked by Betashares A200 ETF. 

At the end of 2024, the index itself doesn't have a long history, just over 14 years, so while we look at its recent performance, which is similar to an S&P/ASX 200 tracker, we specifically look at the gap in performance between the 200 largest companies and the 300 largest companies in Australia. 

Larger companies tend to do better in Australia, which leaves question marks over the small cap effect, but Peter has some theories on the underperformance.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

October 2010 – December 2024: Solactive Australia 200 TR Index AUD. ©Solactive AG, 2025. All rights reserved. “Solactive”, “Solactive GBS”, “German Index Engineering” are registered trademarks of Solactive AG 

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Published January 2025. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the historic performance of the MSCI Russia Index as a lead into a discussion on what happens when an ETF is closed and doing due diligence on any ETFs an investor might use in their portfolio.

ETF closure is a risk and it can happen for various reasons, in the example of Russia the index providers stopped tracking Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, but ETFs can be shut down and changed at the whim of the manager. We look at two cases at Vanguard and Blackrock which show it's not just small managers who will close or change ETFs without much warning.  

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

MSCI Russia Index (net div.) January 1999 - Present: Total Returns Net Dividends in USD. Source: MSCI. MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved.

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Published January 2025. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the performance of the S&P 500 across 2000-2009, which is often regarded as a lost decade due to the negative return the index delivered.  

In more recent times the performance of the S&P 500 has been amazing and it's had some investors believing that the S&P 500 is the only thing they need as their investment strategy. Is that good or bad? As we explain, diversification is probably a better strategy, but if they are planning to use one index as their strategy, they should be prepared to stick with it through thick and thin.

We also look at the impact the Australian dollar had for Australian investors, along with how the returns would have played out with "real world" scenarios had an investor been dollar cost averaging or drawing from a portfolio in a retirement scenario. We also compare some other asset classes an investor could have used across the decade and seen a more positive return.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.

S&P 500 Index 1/1926 - 12/2023. January 1990 - Present: S&P 500 Index. Total Returns in USD. Source: Standard & Poors Index Services Group. January 1926 - December 1989: S&P 500 Index Source: Ibbotson data courtesy of © Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation Yearbook, Ibbotson Associates, Chicago (annually updated works by Roger C. Ibbotson and Rex A. Sinquefield). Copyright 2024 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved.

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Published December 2024. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at the historic performance of the MSCI Japan Index (net div, JPY) which tracks the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Japanese market.  

Japan's stockmarket performance over an extended period was extremely poor after a very strong period in the 1980's, and it's often used as an example as why people shouldn't index, but as we explain, it's really an argument for diversification.  

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

https://www.mfg.com.au  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

MSCI Japan Index (net div., JPY) 1/1970 - 12/2023 January 1970 - Present: MSCI Japan Index (net div., JPY) Total Returns Net Dividends in JPY

Country Code FJ Source: MSCI MSCI data © MSCI 2024, all rights reserved. 

MSCI World ex Japan Index (Kokusai Index) (net div., JPY) 1/1970 - 12/2023  February 2004 - present: MSCI World ex Japan (Kokusai Index) (net div, JPY)

Returns Net Dividends in JPY Currency Code: JPY MSCI data © MSCI 2024, all rights reserved. 

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Published December 2024. In this episode of "What's the Risk?" we take a look at various constructions of MSCI World ex Australia Index and the S&P/ASX 300 Index (Total Return), 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, 30/70.

Some people would know the combination of the ETFs that seek to track the performance of these indices as the VAS/VGS split, so it gives a fuller picture of what those constructions would have done over the longer term.

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

S&P/ASX 300 Index (Total Return) 1/1980 - 12/2023. April 2000 - Present: S&P/ASX 300 Index (Total Return), Source: S&P June 1992 - March 2000: ASX 300 Accumulation Index, Source: ASX January 1980 - May 1992: ASX All Ordinaries Accumulation Index, Source: ASX Returns in AUD Copyright 2024 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved. MSCI World ex Australia Index (net div., AUD) 1/1975 - 12/2024. January 1975 - present: MSCI World ex Australia Index (net div.) Total Returns Net Dividends in AUD Source: MSCI. Country Code: AA MSCI data © MSCI 2024, all rights reserved.

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Watch episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/ZXQKdbd05FU

Published November 2024. People often ask "do I need a financial adviser?", but there's another question regularly overlooked: are they the type of person who should have a financial adviser?  

While financial advice can be beneficial for everyone, some people don't have the capacity to accept it, so understanding who you are is important. Some people don't want to relinquish control, they aren't always forthcoming with important information, they resent paying. These things will all become problems at some point in an advice relationship.  

We're joined by Tristan Dallas, a financial adviser at Mancell Financial Group to discuss who financial advice works for and who it doesn't work for. Before seeking out an adviser, it's important to consider what type of person you are, and ensure you're not entering into a relationship that won't work.  

Want to learn more about investing? Get our Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Your-Investment-Philosophy-Protecting-Fraudsters-ebook/dp/B0BCPJ8BGC/  

Mancell Financial Group is an Authorised Representative No. 226266 and Credit Representative No. 403187 of FYG Planners Pty Ltd, AFSL/ACL No. 224543. ABN 29 009 541 253.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.