TOL - 16th Feb, 2026
Buy Hold Sell: 15 ASX ETFs for every investing level
Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned investor, here are 15 ETF (and LIC) ideas for DIY portfolio design.
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With so much choice on the ASX for building an ETF portfolio, the challenge is in construction. How do you combine ETFs (or LICs) in a way that makes sense for where you are in your investing journey? And how should that mix evolve as your knowledge, confidence and capital grows?
In this episode, Tom Stelzer is joined by Daniel Kelly of Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes of Shaw and Partners to build three ETF portfolios from the ground up: one for beginners, one for intermediate investors and one for those ready to step into more advanced territory.
Starting with low-cost, broad-market exposure ETF options, our panel explores how investors can begin layering in more targeted sector and thematic exposures as their portfolios mature, before heading into sophisticated territory, unpacking geared strategies and listed alternatives like LICs, where risk, correlation and portfolio construction become even more critical.
Whether you’re building your first ETF portfolio or refining a more complex allocation, this episode offers a practical guide for thinking about portfolio design at every level of experience.
This episode was filmed on Wednesday, 11 February 2026.Other ways to listen
Edited transcript
Tom Stelzer: Hello and welcome to Livewire's Buy, Hold, Sell. I'm Tom Stelzer. With almost 400 ETFs available in the ASX, investors are spoiled for choice. But what are the must-have ETFs for investors looking to build a solid portfolio? Joining me today are Daniel Kelly from Viola Private Wealth and Adam Dawes from Shaw and Partners to help build a three ETF portfolio for beginner, intermediate and advanced investors.
The Beginner
1. Betashares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) / 2. iShares Global 100 ETF (ASX: IOO) / 3. Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)
Tom Stelzer: Adam, we'll start with you. What are your picks for a beginner ETF portfolio and why?
Adam Dawes: Yeah, so I think with a beginner ETF portfolio, you definitely need to look at diversification. Probably don't have so much money, so you need to be a little bit careful about how you allocate those funds. And so the first one for me is the A200. I think that's certainly one of those ones that has the lowest MER in the market. I think it's at 0.04%*. So MER very, very low, seven basis points. And so low cost is obviously very good when you've got not so much money going forward.
The next one I was going to pick was IOO, which is the top 100 global companies in the world. So now what we're doing is we're getting the Australian index, but then you're getting the overall global and the top 100 companies. I think that's really, really important for diversification as well.
And then the last one is VGS. Now VGS is a global one. So you basically get one and a half thousand companies across the world. Problem is sometimes you can be over-diversified, so you've got to be a little bit careful about how you do this, but VGS does give that global exposure and for someone with a small balance to start with, I think that's a great way to start getting your portfolio ready to grow for the future.
*Correction: Please note that the fee for A200 is 0.04% not 0.07%* as mentioned in the video.
Betashares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) / iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) / Betashares Global Shares Ex US ETF (ASX: EXUS)
Tom Stelzer: Pretty broad exposure there from Adam. Daniel, what about you for a beginner portfolio?
Daniel Kelly: Yeah, I think it's best to keep it simple as well. Diversification is key and just something that an investor can continue to dollar cost average into. So I've gone with A200, similarly to Adam, it's counter-cyclical to international markets. We obviously have high allocation to banks and mining companies, which is inherently a bit of a hedge against some of the more tech-dominated indexes overseas.I've gone with IVV, which is the classic Warren Buffett, S&P 500 play. You can hold that thing for decades and it's going to do well from a capital growth perspective.
And then I've gone EXUS as well, which is essentially the world ex-Australia and ex-US. So that complements those other two ETFs quite well and you can actually control your geographic exposure with each of those by increasing or decreasing. I think it's also important for a beginner to not take specific sector or thematic bets because then you need to be a little bit more dynamic about your weighting, which for someone that is kind of just getting into markets, probably not for them.
The mid-level investor
Betashares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF (ASX: ATEC) / Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) / Betashares Global Shares Ex US ETF (ASX: EXUS)
Tom Stelzer: And Daniel, I'll come back to you. What about your picks for an intermediate ETF portfolio?
Daniel Kelly: Similar principles to the beginner portfolio, just kind of drilling down into some more sector-specific themes at the moment. So instead of A200, we're going with ATEC. It's been absolutely hammered of late. Software is going through an identity crisis with all the disruption that artificial intelligence-
Adam Dawes: Is that what you call it?
Daniel Kelly: Apparently that's what the market's calling it. So I just think that that's materially undervalued at the moment. So if you want to take a play in that segment, not a bad time to look at that. We've got NDQ in the portfolio as well. Rather than the S&P500, NDQ is just exposing you to more of that innovation with that technology-focused index. And I've gone with EXUS again as well. I think that compared to the last 10 or 15 years where the US listed market dominated global equities, I think more of the world is actually going to pick up share of wallet there. And so you need to give an investor exposure to all of the great companies that aren't just from the Americas.
Daniel Kelly: Similar principles to the beginner portfolio, just kind of drilling down into some more sector-specific themes at the moment. So instead of A200, we're going with ATEC. It's been absolutely hammered of late. Software is going through an identity crisis with all the disruption that artificial intelligence-
Adam Dawes: Is that what you call it?
Daniel Kelly: Apparently that's what the market's calling it. So I just think that that's materially undervalued at the moment. So if you want to take a play in that segment, not a bad time to look at that. We've got NDQ in the portfolio as well. Rather than the S&P500, NDQ is just exposing you to more of that innovation with that technology-focused index. And I've gone with EXUS again as well. I think that compared to the last 10 or 15 years where the US listed market dominated global equities, I think more of the world is actually going to pick up share of wallet there. And so you need to give an investor exposure to all of the great companies that aren't just from the Americas.
Tom Stelzer: Yeah, fair enough. Adam, what about you?
Global X Copper Miners ETF (ASX: WIRE) / Betashares Global Uranium ETF (ASX: URNM) / VanEck Global Defence ETF (ASX: DFND)
Adam Dawes: So I've gone a little bit different to Daniel as well, something that's been a little bit more commodity focused as you work up the, I guess levels of investing or understanding of investing, taking some more sort of sector plays.First one is WIRE. It's a copper ETF. It's up 78% this year, so it's done really, really well. Can it do it for the next year? We'll wait and see. But certainly that thematic I think is something that when you're starting to have a little bit more in your portfolio, you've got some indexes, you've got some other stuff, putting some of these thematic ETFs and commodity ETFs because Australia, obviously, we understand commodities very well.
The other one is uranium. Now I certainly see uranium is going to be powering the world, or certainly powering data centres, all of these kinds of things. And URNM is a great way to do it. It's got lots of uranium exposure in there, global exposure. So it's certainly very, very good going forward.
And then the next one or the last one, a bit of a thematic, but it's Defend D-F-N-D. That's certainly something that I think we're going to see, continue to see more spend coming from the U.S in aerospace, a lot of that technology stuff as well. So drilling down more into more of the thematics as you get more and more of your portfolio and you become a little bit more sophisticated. That's certainly something that I think will definitely give some more alpha to your portfolio going forward.
The seasoned player
Betashares Geared Australian Equity Fund Hedge Fund (ASX: GEAR) / Plato Global Fund (ASX: PGA1) / Betashares Australian Enhanced Credit Income Complex ETF (ASX: ECRD)
Tom Stelzer: So yeah, pretty heavy on the thematics in the intermediate. I'll start with you, Adam, what about the advanced? What's that portfolio looking like?
Adam Dawes: So the advanced portfolio that I've got, I've chosen is ETFs that are basically geared. Now, I don't put my eight-year-old grandmother into these ones. Okay? You've got to be really, really careful because you've got to understand gearing and you've got to understand how it works because gearing works on the upside but it also works on the downside as well. So you need to be careful. So one of the first ones that I've chosen is gear, G-E-A-R, and that's a way that it basically gears the ASX 200. So you can actually gear up the level and obviously if the market continues to move forward, I think that certainly looks really, really good.
The next one is that I'm doing is PGA1. Now PGA1 is Plato Alpha Global Fund. That's a long short fund. So there's 148 longs and 49 shorts in the portfolio. So it is there, it sits in there and they are able to make money on the way up, but also on the way down.
And my last one is a little bit of a different one, it's ECRD, one where it's basically geared credit. Now, again, I'm not putting my 80-year-old client into this one because gearing credit is certainly something that I don't think anybody, unless they're sophisticated, should know what they're doing. But basically Betashares have said that there's going to be no margin call on this because the credit market is so flat, so less volatile that potentially then you can gear up and it's giving around about a 7.5% yield inside of that one. Again, you've got to be careful, buyer beware and always look at the PDS before you make any decisions, especially with these ones that I've suggested.
Plato Global Alpha Fund (ASX: PGA1) / Pengana Private Equity Trust (ASX: PE1) / L1 Long Short Fund Ltd (ASX: LSF)
Tom Stelzer: So a pretty complex portfolio there from Adam. What about you, Daniel, on the advanced stage?
Daniel Kelly: Yeah, so mine might be even more complex. We've actually gone for some listed alternatives. So first, just so the audience understands, we define anything that it's an alternative as traditional markets are long only stocks, bonds, and cash and alternatives is everything else. So I've actually gone the PGA1 fund as well. We have a good relationship with the Plato boys, extremely smart fund managers being a long extension. They can take advantage of trending markets, both increasing and decreasing in price performance.
I've gone with PE1, which is the Pengana listed private equity fund. This is actually the only way that investors can get access to SpaceX on the ASX. So it's actually a listed ETF that gives you exposure to private businesses, which for an advanced investor is absolutely where you want to be playing.
And then I've gone LSF as well, which is the L1 Long Short Fund. Fantastic performance with this, really low correlation to traditional markets and low volatility as well. And so those three kind of individual ETFs will play quite well together regardless of whatever economic environment we come into.
Tom Stelzer: So there you have it, plenty of choices regardless of what stage you're at. Thanks to our guests and thanks for tuning in. Make sure to check out the Livewire YouTube channel for more Buy, Hold, Sell.Never miss an update
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Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
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13 funds mentioned
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Livewire Markets
Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
Expertise
Livewire Markets
Buy Hold Sell is a weekly video series exclusive to Livewire. In each episode two fund managers give their views 'Buy, Hold or Sell' on five ASX listed companies. Not recommendations, please read the disclaimer and seek advice where appropriate.
Expertise
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