After missing much of the bull market due to being overly conservative I decided to use iShares etfs to create a regional investing approach. Here's my breakdown: IVV - Total US Market IEUR- Europe AAXJ- Asia ex-Japan (China 40%; SK, Taiwan, HK, India, etc.); virtually identical to IEMG emerging markets, though IEMG has a lower expense ratio. IPAC (67% Japan, 18% Australia) EPP (57% Australia, 30% HK, 10% Singapore) I don't have a target percentage for each, but maybe something like 50/20/10/10/10. Thoughts on this regional approach...
Seems reasonable enough, although when 2008 rolls around again all that shit is dropping like a rock lol, the diversification will not likely help much.
I was thinking eventually 20-25% of the whole portfolio would be AGG - Aggregate Bond Fund. Maybe as high as 35%.
That probably helps, but I think I looked one time and was shocked how even bonds took a big hit in the worst of the financial crises. Could be wrong though.
You could simplify the allocation by just buying VT Vanguard Total World Stock. And if you didn't want the holdings to be as heavily-weighted in large-cap stocks, you could add VO Vanguard Mid-Cap Index VB Vanguard Small Cap SCZ iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap
VT is a nice one pick for everything in one basket. I was thinking that by taking a regional approach I could add more when certain regions are depressed (regional rotation). Obviously, an 08-09 situation takes everything down.
I'm not sure why you wouldn't just roll into something like DBEF to cover your international. It seems like you've got a semi-bogle portfolio there. No need to diversify into regions (personally) unless you think you have found some ETFs with an edge over the market trackers.