My Vanguard monthly direct debit fired this week: £400 straight into the Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF. This is the most boring buy I make every month, and I love it.
Vanguard is where I keep the 'serious' part of my portfolio — the bit I plan to hold for the very long term and not tinker with. No individual shares, no thematic ETFs, no curiosity positions. Just broad, low-cost index funds that own thousands of companies across the developed world.
The FTSE Developed World ETF covers large and mid-cap stocks across developed markets — US, UK, Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and more. It's about 65% US, which some people might say is too much, but that reflects the global market. The fee is 0.12% which is excellent. I use the accumulation version so dividends are reinvested.
Why Vanguard for this part of my portfolio? A few reasons. First, Vanguard's ownership structure — it's owned by its funds, which are owned by their investors. There's no external shareholder demanding higher profits. Second, the platform fee is a flat 0.15% capped at £375 per year, which for larger portfolios is very competitive. Third, I find the Vanguard interface deliberately boring — it doesn't tempt me to trade. I log in maybe once a quarter. That's exactly how I want it.
There's not much else to say this week. £400 went in. The ETF did its thing. I carried on with my life. Next week I might have something more interesting to report, but honestly, I hope I don't. Interesting investing is usually expensive investing.
As always: this is what I did. Not what you should do. Do your own research. All investing carries risk.