The multivitamin your portfolio needs

Please note that this interview was recorded Thursday 4 September 2025

As much as I love markets and am constantly ‘dialled in’ to what’s happening in global finance, I’m also a parent of two young boys, husband to a beautiful wife, and part-time cook, cleaner, basketball coach, and chauffeur – amongst other things. Life happens, whether you want it to or not.

So, if you show me a product that makes my life easier, simpler, cheaper, or more efficient, I will typically lean in.

That’s the thinking behind Vanguard’s Diversified ETF range, launched in 2017 with Conservative, Balanced, Growth, and High Growth options, built on strategies first offered to Australian investors in 2002 via managed funds. 

“Diversified ETFs are multi-asset portfolios that give investors access to both equities as well as fixed interest wrapped up all in one solution", says Adam DeSanctis - Head of ETF Capital Markets for Vanguard Australia.

"The example that I like to use when describing these funds to clients is that of a multivitamin. Instead of going out and purchasing 10, 15 different vitamins from the store, it can be a lot easier to just purchase a multivitamin and take one pill. 

Same idea here, but for your investment portfolio, instead of going out and selecting and managing a whole portfolio of funds, you can get all that exposure with one single trade.”

In April this year, the range was expanded to include an all-growth option – the Vanguard Diversified All Growth Index ETF (ASX: VDAL), and an income option – the Vanguard Diversified Income ETF (ASX: VDIF).

All of the strategies are backed by Vanguard’s 50 years of experience. I sat down with DeSanctis to discuss the features and benefits of diversified ETFs and how they operate when markets are volatile.

Watch the video above for the full insights, or read a short summary below. 

INTERVIEW SUMMARY

Tackling complexity with simplicity

DeSanctis described Vanguard’s diversified ETFs as a way to solve three common investor challenges: diversification, discipline, and home-country bias. 

“Instead of building a portfolio from scratch, what these products offer is exposure to thousands of securities across not only equities and fixed interest, but also international and domestic markets,” he said. 

Automatic rebalancing ensures portfolios stay on track, while global exposure helps reduce the risks of overconcentration in local markets.

Listening to investor demand

The diversified range was first launched in 2017 with four options: Conservative, Balanced, Growth, and High Growth. Since then, the suite has expanded in direct response to investor feedback. 

“I vividly remember this year and last year talking to investors and advisers on the road all around Australia, and they were asking for a product that was all growth,” DeSanctis recalled.

“So our product team and our investment strategy team went to work and we launched that product earlier this year. And I think it’s just a great example of Vanguard listening to the market and then being able to leverage our resources to put out a solution that meets investors’ needs.”

Performance in volatile markets

The newest products — VDAL (All Growth) and VDIF (Income) — were launched in April 2025, just as volatility was peaking. DeSanctis said the period highlighted the design of the range: 

“On the two extremes, if you were to look at the all growth product, that experienced a significant pullback and then a pretty significant rebound… on the conservative side, that product that has more exposure to fixed interest didn’t experience as large a pullback, but the rebound was also more muted.” 

Importantly, flows into the funds remained net positive, suggesting investors stayed the course rather than panic-selling.

Why investors and advisers choose them

For retail investors, diversified ETFs provide an accessible starting point in a crowded market.

“There are close to 400 ETFs listed on the ASX today — that is a lot of choice, and for many investors who are just starting off on their journey, they’re not quite sure where to start,” said DeSanctis. 

Low costs and scale also stand out, with some funds holding up to 14,000 securities. Advisers, meanwhile, value the efficiency. 

“These products do the heavy lifting when it comes to asset allocation… it provides more time for advisors to spend with their clients doing value-added things as opposed to focusing on asset allocation and rebalancing.”

Versatile roles in a portfolio

The range is designed to fit multiple use cases. 

“The first is, as a standalone portfolio — purchase a diversified ETF, and that is it,” said DeSanctis. 

“On the other side, for investors that maybe want to be a little bit more hands-on, we like to talk about a core-satellite strategy… you can add some of those smaller satellite positions without compromising the low cost and diversification of the portfolio.” 

Ultimately, the goal for Vanguard is to help investors build portfolios they can stick with for the long term.