How to build an ETF portfolio from scratch with Jess Leung from Global X

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Owen Raszkiewicz** (0:30)
Running a small business means I wear lots of hats.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:32)
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**Jess Leung** (0:37)
LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps manage my hiring workflow, puts my job post in front of a unique network of professionals, and matches me with the best candidates for my business. I can also share my job with my network.

**Owen Raszkiewicz** (0:48)
No other job site lets me do that.

**Jess Leung** (0:50)
No wonder most small businesses say they'd use LinkedIn Hiring Pro again. I are right the first time.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:55)
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**Jess Leung** (1:00)
So a lot of investors, and this is something I was definitely guilty of as well, is that when I started investing, I ended up building up what I called a collector's portfolio. So you buy a stock you like or then you see a new ETF, or then you're talking to some friends and then you'll go, oh yeah, this is a good idea. Then along the way, you just collect things. When you zoom out, you see that there really wasn't a blueprint or an overall strategy.

**Owen Raszkiewicz** (1:22)
Kind of like a collection of a wardrobe or something. That style is out of fashion. I am done with that. Then I was like, but everyone talks about those exciting small cap things.

**Jess Leung** (1:32)
So give it a job. Everything has a job in your portfolio.

**Owen Raszkiewicz** (1:35)
Welcome to episode 1 of our portfolio construction series. Well, we're going to go through exactly how to build an ETF portfolio from beginning to end over the next six episodes. For episode 1, we're joined by Jess Leung from Global X, who is a portfolio manager, and she's going to tell us how do we get started? What does a good portfolio look like straight out of the gates? So many people start their ETF journey in a different way, and maybe they're not really thinking too hard about it. We're going to try and identify or self-identify what that looks like, and maybe get a few remedies for this as well. All that and more in this episode of The Australian Investors Podcast.
Hey there, here's a quick note. This podcast contains general financial advice only. That means it's not specific to you, your needs, goals or objectives, so don't act on the information until you've spoken with your financial advisor. You'll find our full disclosure, disclaimer and link to our financial services guide in the show notes.
Jess, how are you doing?

**Jess Leung** (2:35)
I'm good, thanks. How are you today?

**Owen Raszkiewicz** (2:36)
Very, very good. I'm very excited to be talking about this.

**Jess Leung** (2:39)
Yeah.

**Owen Raszkiewicz** (2:40)
Because there's a bunch of questions here that are going to help people legitimately invest better. Most people that listen to the show know what an ETF is, have invested in an ETF potentially, or at least done something in the stock market in and around that. Now, you are a portfolio manager at an ETF provider, and you're going to come back for another episode later in the series and kind of get into the weeds of really what portfolio construction means, portfolio management, how to do it, that type of thing. But for today's episode, we're going to go back to basics.
One of the things we just spoke about off air is that sometimes you can just tell if someone's put together a portfolio the right way or the wrong way. And if you were to look at an investor's portfolio, Jess, how would you know if the portfolio has been deliberately designed or if it's kind of a bit ad hoc?

**Jess Leung** (3:33)
Yeah. So I guess preface for everything, we're going right back to basics. So I'll focus a lot on kind of the why, why we do things, what its purpose is built for. So yeah, that's kind of be the basis of a lot of what I'm going to say.
And to your point, yeah. So I think in my opinion, a portfolio isn't a collection of ideas, whether they're good or bad. I see a portfolio, ultimately it's a system designed to help you achieve your long-term financial goals, whatever they are. So given that's the context, I think everything in your portfolio has a role to play and really should be contributing towards your goal in some shape or form. So give it a job, everything has a job in your portfolio. So a lot of investors, and this is something I was definitely guilty of as well, and what we were speaking about off air earlier, is that when I started investing, I ended up building up what I called a collection portfolio or a collector's portfolio. So you buy a stock you like, or then you see a new ETF, or then you're talking to some friends, and then you'll go, oh yeah, this is a good idea, and then along the way, you just collect things into your portfolio.