Simon Brown
How long have you been investing and what got you started?
I started in October 1987, just before the giant crash. I was fascinated by stock markets, the whole concept of buying slices of giant companies, earning dividends and making money. As a novice, it looked easy, kinda like I had found some secret formula to life.
Then a week after buying my first shares the market lost 22% in on day and I realised this was maybe harder than I thought.
What was the first ETF you bought and why did you buy it?
Satrix40 (STX40). I didn’t know much about ETFs when it was listed in December 2000, but somebody who knew way more than I said that everybody should be buying it and so I did. I still hold them today, I paid about 600c back then and now it’s over 7400c and I’ve got 22 years of dividends.
How many ETFs do you currently hold?
A lot, even after I cleaned out my portfolio many years back.
I checked and it’s ten in total.
Core are the Satrix40, FNB World 1200 and CoreShares All World.
Then a bunch of tactical such as SatrixFini, SatrixResi, CoreShares local Property with some legacy such as the old Sygnia World.
What’s your favourite local listed ETF, and why?
Satrix40 because it’s simple and my first.
But even more so, GLOBAL (the total world from CoreShares) because it really is the core of what an ETF should be – diverse. It holds more than 9,000 stocks from across the world. This is the ETF I buy every month.
What’s your favourite offshore listed ETF, and why?
Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF (NYSE code: VT). This is the same as the local GLOBAL ETF but in the US and in US$. I know boring.
Do you also hold individual shares?
Yes, lots of them as well. Checked again, and currently 15 in total. This is a core ’til death do us part’ long-term portfolio and some more speculative second-tier stocks. The list is here.
What is the percentage split of your portfolio between ETFs and shares?
ETFs about 56%, shares about 38% and trading the rest. The ETF percentage is creeping higher with a target of 65% – 70% in the next five years or so.
You can find more of Simon on his vanity page here and social media links below.
ETF blog
At Just One Lap, we are big fans of passive investment using ETFs. In this weekly blog, we discuss ETFs on the local market and the factors you need to consider when choosing an ETF. If you have wondered how one ETF differs from another, this is where you can find out. We explain which index each ETF tracks, what type of portfolio could benefit from holding each ETF, and how the costs will affect your bottom line.