iShares XEQT Review: A 100% Equity ETF Portfolio (2024)

Looking for an easy way to invest in worldwide equities?

Then you should check out all-in-one portfolios. It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to invest in a wide array of stocks around the world.

iShares XEQT is Blackrock’s all-in-one equity portfolio that has been gaining rapidly in popularity.

Check out this iShares XEQT review to learn if it’s right for you.

• Easy to use and purchase
• Provides worldwide diversification
• Much lower fees than mutual funds
• Highly liquid
• No need for rebalancing

• Some might think it is too heavily American weighted

What is BlackRock iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio?

iShares XEQT, as a 100% equity ETF portfolio, offers a hands-off approach for investors. As opposed to being active in selecting individual stocks, investing in XEQT means gaining exposure to a broad range of equities from various countries and sectors.

This strategy not only aims for worldwide diversification but also simplifies the investment process for those who want to avoid the complexities and potential pitfalls of stock picking.

The ETF portfolio consists of several other iShares ETF portfolios.

XEQT.TO is currently trading at close to $31.41.

XEQT Key Facts

As of October 05, 2023:

• Ticker Symbol: XEQT.TO
• Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange
• Assets Under Management: $1.98 Billion
• MER: 0.20%
• 12-Month Trailing Yield: 1.98%
• Currency Traded: CAD
• Number of Underlying Stocks: 9670
• Registered Accounts Availability: Yes

Who Should Invest

iShares XEQT is ideal for:

1. Long-term Investors: Given its 100% equity nature, this ETF portfolio is best suited for investors with a long-term horizon who can weather potential short-term market volatility.
2. Diversification Seekers: Those aiming for exposure to global equities without the hassle of selecting individual stocks or countries.
3. Hands-off Investors: If you’re looking for a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ type of investment, this self-rebalancing ETF is perfect.
4. Cost-Conscious Investors: With its low MER, XEQT offers a cheaper alternative to mutual funds and robo-advisors.
5. Risk Takers: As with all equity portfolios, there’s an inherent risk. Investors should be comfortable with the potential of market downturns, knowing they often rebound over the long run.

iShares XEQT MER and Fees

XEQT has a management fee of 0.18% and an MER of 0.20%.

While the MER is higher than what you would get if you purchased individual ETFs, the higher MER comes with several benefits:

• You don’t need to spend time rebalancing the ETFs in the portfolio because it is automatically realigned to match your goals.
• The MER is much lower than mutual funds and lower than robo-advisors.

iShares XEQT Performance and Returns

XEQT is among the relatively newer funds issued by BlackRock. The fund’s inception was on August 7, 2019.

Here is a chart showing the growth of a hypothetical $10,000 since inception:

Here is the performance as of September 30, 2023:

	1y	3y	5y	10y	Incept.
Total Return (%)	16.59	-8.05	–	–	8.35

Go to the Blackrock website for real-time performance numbers of XEQT.

iShares XEQT Dividend Yield

As is typical of most all-in-one ETFs, the dividend yield is not very high. As of October 06, 2023:

• 12-month trailing yield: 1.98%
• Distribution yield: 1.41%
• Dividend schedule: Quarterly

What does BlackRock iShares XEQT Invest in?

The ETF portfolio invests in a basket of ETFs that, in turn, invest entirely in stocks. By investing primarily in four underlying ETFs, XEQT provides investors with low-cost exposure to over 9,000 individual stocks trading on several exchanges worldwide.

About 45% – 50% of its entire focus is on US equity securities. With 20% – 25% of it is exposed to Canadian equity securities, and the rest are focused on stocks in emerging markets and international holdings

It has $1.088 Billion in total assets under management as of June 30, 2022, which shows the tremendous growth and popularity of these all-in-one ETF portfolios.

As of October, 2023:

Ticker	Name	Sector	Weight (%)
ITOT	ISHARES CORE S&P TOTAL U.S. STOCK	Financials	46.66
XEF	ISHARES MSCI EAFE IMI INDEX	Other	24.40
XIC	ISHARES S&P/TSX CAPPED COMPOSITE	Financials	23.62
XEC	ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKET	Financials	4.97
CAD	CAD CASH	Cash and/or Derivatives	0.25
USD	USD CASH	Cash and/or Derivatives	0.10

XEQT Asset Allocation

In this section of my iShares XEQT review, I would typically tell you about the breakdown of its total funds between fixed-income and equity securities.

However, iShares XEQT invests primarily in equities and has some exposure to cash or cash equivalents. As you can see, it invests almost in all equity and an insignificant portion to cash:

As of July 11, 2022:

Type	Fund
Equity	99.64
Cash and/or Derivatives	0.36

XEQT Geographical Breakdown

iShares XEQT diversifies across several countries, primarily focusing on the US and Canada. The remaining exposure is divided between Japan, the UK, Switzerland, France, China, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands.

I will show you its exposure breakdowns to equity securities based on the geography as of July 11, 2022.

Country	Percentage (%)
United States	45.72
Canada	23.07
Japan	5.94
United Kingdom	3.69
France	2.57
Switzerland	2.46
Australia	1.95
Germany	1.87
China	1.53
Netherlands	1.10
Cash and/or Derivatives	0.70
Other	9.38

XEQT Top Holdings

XEQTs top ten holdings consist primarily of companies based in the US and in Canada. XEQT is a fund of funds, meaning it invests in several ETFs. Note that because of the huge number of stocks in this fund, the top ten don’t amount to that much of the total value of the fund.

Here is a breakdown of its underlying holdings for the top ten securities. Tech is heavily represented, as are financials:

Ticker	Name	Weight (%)	Sector
AAPL	APPLE INC	2.94	Information Technology
MSFT	MICROSOFT CORP	2.58	Information Technology
RY	ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	1.39	Financials
AMZN	AMAZON COM INC	1.30	Consumer Discretionary
NVDA	NVIDIA CORP	1.29	Information Technology
TD	TORONTO DOMINION	1.24	Financials
SHOP	SHOPIFY SUBORDINATE VOTING INC CLA	0.89	Ecommerce
GOOGL	ALPHABET INC CLASS A	0.86	Communication
CP	CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD	0.82	Industrials
ENB	ENBRIDGE INC	0.79	Energy

XEQT Sector Weighting

iShares XEQT is diversified across various sectors of the economy, with a heavy emphasis on tech and financial services.

Here is a breakdown of iShares XEQT sector weightings as of October 06, 2023:

Sectors	Investment %
Basic Materials	6.07
Consumer Cyclical	9.31
Financial Services	19.08
Real Estate	3.59
Communication Services	6.87
Energy	7.76
Industrials	11.27
Technology	15.34
Consumer Defensive	6.68
Healthcare	10.38
Utilities	3.62

iShares XEQT Risk Indicator

XEQT is a low-to-medium-risk ETF:

iShares XEQT vs. Other ETFs

iShares XEQT vs. iShares XAW

iShares XAW is another all-in-one ETF portfolio offered by BlackRock iShares. It consists of several BlackRock ETFs that focus on equities. The difference is that it does not include any Canadian stocks in its holdings. You can choose iShares XAW if you do not want any Canadian stocks in your portfolio.

iShares XEQT vs. Vanguard VGRO

VGRO is Vanguard’s Growth ETF portfolio. It consists of several ETFs offered by Vanguard. The primary difference between XEQT and VGRO is that VGRO offers you a more conservative option. It has an 80/20 split between equity and fixed-income securities.

Read my full VGRO review here.

How do All-In-One Portfolio’s Work

All-in-one ETFs are essentially a portfolio of several ETFs designed to make diversified and passive investing easier for investors.

Before all-in-one ETFs came around, it was much more difficult to make an ETF portfolio. You would have to purchase several ETFs yourself and rebalance them to align with your investment goals and risk tolerance based on each ETF’s performance.

You can find out more details about all-in-one ETFs in my list of the best all-in-one ETFs in Canada.

Is iShares XEQT a Good Investment For You?

XEQT is an excellent investment, but a lot of people aren’t using it correctly as they are choosing to invest their entire account using just this ETF.

Most people can’t handle the risk of their entire portfolio being 100% equities, as this can expose you to potential heavy losses in one year during a crisis.

A lot of investors combine XEQT with a fixed-income ETF to get their proper asset allocation. Here’s a full breakdown of fixed-income ETFs in Canada.

If you aren’t sure about what your proper asset breakdown should be between fixed-income and equities, read this article on how to start investing.

How to Buy BlackRock iShares XEQT ETF in Canada

Conclusion

It’s never been easier to invest in ETFs, and iShares XEQT shows us that you can invest in thousands of stocks at a very reasonable price.

It’s an excellent ETF and will be a mainstay in the Canadian region for quite some time, but learn how to use it correctly by combining it with fixed-income ETFs.

Check out the other iShares all-in-one ETF portfolios here.