About this episode

The hosts answer listener questions on various investment topics, including portfolio construction and the value of simplicity in investing.

In this AMA episode, Benjamin Felix, Dan Bortolotti, and Ben Wilson tackle a wide range of listener questions covering portfolio construction, diversification, active management, pensions, fiduciary duty, and short-term investing decisions. They examine whether breaking apart all-in-one ETFs is worth the complexity, why global diversification remains the default despite long stretches of underperformance, and how investors should think about risk when they have defined benefit pensions or short-term financial goals. Along the way, they discuss the limits of active management, why simplicity often beats optimization, and even reveal their favorite board games. Key Points From This Episode: (0:01:12) Whether investors should replace asset allocation ETFs with individual component ETFs to save on management fees. (0:01:40) Why simplicity has real economic value—and how small fee savings compare to behavioral costs. (0:05:38) Portfolio drift, rebalancing discipline, and the hidden costs of managing multiple ETFs. (0:06:08) How recent fee reductions narrowed the cost gap between VEQT and its component funds. (0:06:51) When using individual ETF components may make sense for larger…

People in this episode

Hosts: Benjamin Felix, Dan Bortolotti

Guest: Ben Wilson

Topics covered

• portfolio construction
• diversification
• active management
• pensions
• fiduciary duty
• short-term investing

Keywords

• ETFs
• management fees
• portfolio drift
• rebalancing
• global diversification
• risk management
• active management
• board games

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: S&P 500

Products: VEQT

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• Answering Your Financial Questions | #414 · June 18, 2026 · 1h 15m
• How Canadian ETFs Actually Work | #413 (Morley Conn) · June 11, 2026 · 1h 8m
• Ben Carlson: Investing at All-Time Highs | #412 · June 4, 2026 · 50 min

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