ETFs UNPACKED: What They Are, How They Work & the Top Performers You Need to Know

💰 Ever looked at an ETF ticker and felt like you needed a finance degree just to understand it? Same. That's exactly why we brought in the expert.

In this episode, Molly sits down with Jess Leung from Global X ETFs for a masterclass on ETF investing. Jess breaks down some of the most talked-about ETFs on the market right now, from semiconductors (the tiny chips quietly powering the entire AI boom) to copper miners (yes, really and it makes total sense once she explains it).

You'll learn:
✅ How ETFs like semiconductors and AI funds actually work, and why they've become so popular
✅ The "core-satellite" strategy for building a portfolio (explained through a wardrobe analogy you'll never forget)
✅ How to actually buy an ETF, step by step, plus tips on timing your trades
✅ Whether we're in an AI bubble (Jess gives her honest take)

Whether you're just starting to explore investing or you're ready to add a bit more nuance to your portfolio, this episode is packed with practical, real-world insight you can actually use.

🎉 Loved this episode? You'll love the 2026 Online Wealth Summit even more.

This is just a taste of what's coming on Friday, 18 September, 9AM–4PM AEST, live via Zoom and completely free to attend. Jess is back for the full summit, joined by Alec and Bryce from Equity Mates, Arjun Paliwal from InvestorKit, and a stacked lineup of Australia's top money experts, plus Molly herself. 

👉 Grab your spot at the 2026 Online Wealth Summit

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Welcome & Episode Intro
00:49 - Online Wealth Summit Reminder
01:37 - Why Molly Loves ETFs
01:57 - General Advice Disclaimer
02:24 - Meet Jess Leung, Global X ETFs
03:22 - What You'll Learn Today
03:45 - What Is an ETF? (The Chocolate Box Analogy)
05:06 - Why We Love ETFs: Instant Diversification
06:08 - Why We Love ETFs: Lower Fees
07:02 - Why We Love ETFs: Easy to Buy on the ASX
07:44 - Why We Love ETFs: Great for Long-Term Investing
08:32 - How ETFs Actually Make You Money
09:56 - Asset Classes & Thematic ETFs, Explained
11:47 - ETF #1: A300 — Australia's Broad Market
13:24 - ETF #2: FANG+ — Next-Gen Tech
17:24 - ETF #3: SEMI — The Backbone of AI
20:52 - ETF #4: GXAI — The Full AI Value Chain
24:52 - ETF #5: WIRE — Copper Miners & Electrification
31:23 - Quick Recap of the Five ETFs
32:55 - Risk vs. Reward Explained
34:00 - The Core-Satellite Portfolio Strategy
36:35 - The Wardrobe Analogy for Building a Portfolio
37:29 - Comparing Similar ETFs & Why Fees Matter
40:33 - Know Your Risk Tolerance ("Can You Sleep at Night?")
41:04 -  How to Buy an ETF, Step by Step
42:11 - Best (and Worst) Times to Trade
43:02 - Q&A: Growth Companies vs. Dividend Payers
44:06 - Q&A: Are We in an AI Bubble?
45:06 - Wrap Up & Thank You

RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE

🔗 Global X ETFs Australia | Beyond Ordinary ETFs

📊 ETFs mentioned in this episode:

• A300 — Global X Australia 300 ETF (broad ASX exposure)
• FANG — Global X FANG+ ETF (next-gen US tech)
• SEMI — Global X Semiconductor ETF
• GXAI — Global X Artificial Intelligence ETF
• WIRE — Global X Copper Miners ETF

CONNECT WITH JESS LEUNG

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theleungway
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theleungway/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theleungway

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

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TAKEAWAYS

SOUND BITES

"So that's why we like to call semiconductors the backbone of AI. Without it, AI can't exist."

"Just buy the whole damn haystack."

"Compounding is the eighth wonder of the world."

"Would you be happy with that, and would you be able to sleep at night with that as your portfolio for the next 20, 30, 40 years?"

"Every time I hear you speak, I make money."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of Get Rich. It's Molly here. Hey, hey, hey. And today we've got a bit of a different episode. I'm excited about it, but what you're gonna be hearing is actually a recording from one of our live master classes for our paid members, where I sat down with the amazing Jess Leung from Global X, and I wanted to chat through what are the most popular ETFs they have at the moment and what are they?

[00:00:28] But honestly, the content was so good I couldn't not share it. So I thought, let me see if I can go to our editor, shout out to Ramon, and see if we can actually edit this into a podcast episode, because I really want you guys to hear this content. So let me know what you think. Quick reminder. So if you haven't yet, I want you to do one thing.

[00:00:49] I want you to head over to ladiesfinanceclub.com and register for our summit, or you can go onto any of our Instagram posts and literally comment "summit" and you'll be signed up for our online wealth summit. This is one day where we get some of the best speakers in the country, like Jess, to come along and share their knowledge.

[00:01:07] It's completely free to attend. My manifestation goal of registrations is 5,056, so please be part of those numbers. And again, I really hope you enjoy this episode So tonight we are unpacking ETFs with Jess, and Jess is from Global X. She's a portfolio manager, and we love, um, working with Jess 'cause she talks like a normal human in the finance industry, which is a rare thing at times.

[00:01:37] And you guys know I'm very pro-ETFs because they're just a really good way to diversify your portfolio, so have lots of eggs in lots of baskets, and you don't have to pick individual companies because, to be fair, most of us are too busy, and we probably would not be very good at it because even the best people in the world don't get it right a lot of the time.

[00:01:57] So as always, everything we discuss tonight is information and education. It's not advice and should not be taken as financial advice, so always seek independent advice before making any big finance decisions. I'm actually joining live from Perth tonight. So I'm heading out to a mine site to give some money talks tomorrow afternoon, which should be good fun.

[00:02:17] You guys are all in the club, so you know about the club. So what we might do is pass on to Jess.

[00:02:24] Hey, everyone. My name's Jess. Thanks for joining me on this Monday evening. If you're joining the recording, hi, nice to meet you. So I ... Like Molly said, I'm a portfolio manager at Global X. I've been with Global X for over three and a half years now, and I've been working in finance asset management for over 12.

[00:02:42] I also have a personal social media, so you can find me under the handle thelongway_ So I'm there on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where I do educational bits on investing and of course, ETFs. So what are we covering today? So today we're going to do a quick basic run through or a little refresher, as I like to call it, on the basics of an ETF, including what is an ETF, what are some benefits of it, why you would consider an ETF, and then we're gonna go into the crux of today's session in which we're sharing the most popular ETFs that we've seen on our end at Global X AU from, oh, it's July now, over the past seven months.

[00:03:22] So I'll go into five of our top performing ETFs in terms of flows, give a little background in terms of what they are, what their ticker is, what kind of exposure you can expect, and of course, the risk and return profile. And like Molly said, this is all general advice, and don't take this as personal financial advice, as I don't take into any consideration your personal financial circumstances.

[00:03:45] If anything, please do your own research. We have a lot of content available at our website globalxetfs.com.au. If in need, seek financial advice. Okay, so first off- What is an ETF? So ETF stands for exchange traded funds, and I know the example that Molly loves to give is your favorites box of chocolate. So instead of buying one company, you're buying hundreds or sometimes thousands of companies within one investment.

[00:04:13] So she likes to kinda, as you know, the favorites box. So in, within that one box you get a little bit of Cadbury. Oh my God, I don't really eat chocolate. I don't even know what the chocolates are, there are now. You know like the, like the crunchy-

[00:04:25] Dream, Cherry Ripe- Yes ... that horrendous one, Turkish Delight.

[00:04:29] Ugh.

[00:04:29] Oh, I actually really like that one. That one's one of my favorites.

[00:04:32] What about Dream? Into Dream-

[00:04:33] No, the jelly one, the one that you said you don't like

[00:04:37] Oh, Turkish delight,

[00:04:37] yeah Yeah, Turkish delight Yeah So you see we make a, a good combination. The ones that you don't like, I, I like it, so that's fine.

[00:04:44] Another example that I like to give on what an ETF is, it's like your Allen's mixed bag or your party mix of lollies. So within that one party mix, you get exposure to a wide range of companies. So using this as an example, maybe within that one, uh, favorites chocolate box or the one Allen's party mix, you can get exposure to Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and CBA.

[00:05:06] And we'll talk into a bit more detail into some of the ETFs that I'm gonna show you a bit later on. Okay, so why we love ETFs? Because it provides instant diversification. So like I said, instead of you individually going to get all the stocks, you can get exposure to a whole basket. So taking A300, the largest 300 companies in Australia within the one party mix of securities, you can own over 300 companies.

[00:05:34] And a saying to kind of help you understand why we love ETFs is, you know, comparing to stock picking is when you need to look for the needle in the haystack, why do you want to do all that work, do all the research, trying to look for that one name that might outperform in the long run, when you know what?

[00:05:48] Just buy the whole damn haystack. So you can think about that like an ETF. So you don't have to choose and do all the research if you don't want to, when instead you can just own the whole haystack and get the benefits of investing through a basket of stocks. So now the second main benefit is it usually has lower fees than many managed funds.

[00:06:08] So some of the ETFs that I'm gonna be covering tonight, it has management fees as low as 0.03%. So what that is, to just put it into context, for every $10,000 invested, the management fee or the fee that a cost to you as an investor is $3 per year. That's less than half a cup of coffee these days. I think on the weekend my partner and I went to a cafe and we got two coffees.

[00:06:33] We're both soy milk drinkers, and I think it was $14.63, something ridiculous like

[00:06:38] that. Oh my God. I know, it's crazy these days.

[00:06:41] Right? So yeah. So with as low as $3 per year, you can get exposure to a whole basket of securities. And when we say in comparison to managed funds, so some active funds, uh, so not passive ones, so these ones are ones that are trying to outperform the indices, often they charge anywhere from 1 to 2%.

[00:07:02] And often they also have a performance fee associated with that. So that's why we say passive ETFs tend to have lower fees than actively managed funds. So now the third point, they're easy to buy on the ASX or on the exchange. You would just trade in and out of them like you would just on any other stock.

[00:07:18] So all you need is a brokerage platform, which we will cover at the very end of the session if we have time, is actually how to buy these ETFs on a brokerage platform. So all you need is to have access to a brokerage platform, and you need the ticker, and then you can trade in and out of it as long as the ASX is open, and that is usually from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Monday to Fridays So now the second last point, they're great for long-term investing.

[00:07:44] So I like to dollar-cost average in, so every single month my, uh, way of investing or building my long-term wealth is to literally set and forget. I've gone through my asset allocation, which we'll cover a bit later on in terms of what different asset classes are, and every single time I get paid, I will just auto-invest into my portfolio, and I honestly can't tell you what my latest balance is because it's literally just set and forget, and I'm gonna keep it there for the long term.

[00:08:09] And lastly, the reason why we all love ETFs is because they're suitable for any level of investor, and because there's so many available in the market, there's sure to be one to find what you are looking for.

[00:08:21] Oh, and that's a great point. Someone's just said, is, is it Eastern Standard Time, the mar- share market?

[00:08:28] Yes, so WA, it would be 4:30 Eastern Standard Time.

[00:08:32] Yeah. And now, so how does your ETF actually make money? So your investments via ETFs make money via two ways. So the first one is capital growth, and that is the value of the ETF increases over time. So how does that work? So remember, an ETF is just an investment vehicle.

[00:08:50] It gives you access to all the underlying securities. So as long as what you're investing in, i.e., the underlying basket, so let's go back to A300, so the 300 largest companies in, in Australia, as long as those ones are growing, then it also means that the value of your ETF will grow over time. 'Cause remember, ETFs just give you access to the underlying, so it's really you're investing in the underlying holdings and not really the ETF itself.

[00:09:16] It's more just a vehicle. And then secondly, via distributions. So some companies pay dividends, and what that is, so going back to what I was saying, so if the underlying, let's just say company A or CBA pays $2 dividends and your ETF holds a share of CBA, then that too will receive the $2, and that will get distributed out.

[00:09:37] We've-- I'm actually just been really busy working on all the ETF distributions. So they get paid out after the end of financial year. So we collate all the distributions from the underlying securities in the ETF throughout the year, and we just pay it out to you as the investor either quarterly, semi-annually, or annually at financial year-end.

[00:09:56] Okay, so these are just some examples of different asset classes or different thematics that we like to call that you can get access via ETFs. So the first one is broad indices, so such as Australian shares. So that is just a broad Australian market such as A300. There's also international shares, so ones commonly that you might have heard of include the S&P 500, so that's US shares, our largest 500 companies.

[00:10:22] There's also Nasdaq, which is an exchange in the US, and that tends to be more, I guess, of a tech focus ones 'cause, uh, it's more tech-focused companies do like to list on Nasdaq. But at Global X, we also have other international shares, such as the J100, which is largest 100 companies listed in topics.

[00:10:41] That's Japan. We also have NDIA, so which is India, and also Euro Stoxx. But we also have U100, which is the largest 100, uh, companies listed in US, as well as other global ones as well. And then what we'll do, spend a bit of time on today, because we all know that technology and AI has really been hitting the headlines, and that's some of the reasons why we've seen a lot of flow into our thematic-based ETFs.

[00:11:07] So that is why we'll be covering some technology, some AI, and some semiconductor names as well. But some other, I guess, lesser well-known or other sector ETFs that you can get exposure to include healthcare, property, so not just the residential property, like the ones that your house you're living in. You can also get exposure to commercial property via REITs, and that can be done via an ETF structure as well, as well as other classes such as fixed income or bonds and commodities such as physical gold or even crypto So the first ETF that I really wanted to share with you today, and I've also just touched on it a bit before as well, is A300.

[00:11:47] So it's the Global X Australia 300 ETF, and the ticker is A300. So it invests in the 300 largest companies listed on the ASX. So some of its top holdings include CBA, BHP, CSL, Wesfarmers, names that you're, you're all familiar with. Maybe you're more familiar with the ASX 200, 'cause they're usually the largest 200 names.

[00:12:11] But with 300 it also gives you exposure to the other end, so number 201 to 300, so it gives you exposure to small cap companies. So this really is a broad market exposure, giving you broad index exposure to the Australian market. And like I mentioned, this one is currently the lowest cost ETF on the market at currently three basis points or 0.03%.

[00:12:36] And as the example I gave before, that just means for every $10,000 invested per year, the cost to you as an investor via management fee is just $3. So things to know about this one, A, it's low cost. It's great as a long-term core holding, uh, because this one... I'll go into what a core satellite holding is later, but think of it as a core holding and you can really be used as a foundation of your portfolio.

[00:13:01] So this one you can build on it either using just this one or you can add on other international exposures and really use this as the bedrock or the foundation of your portfolio to build your wealth and gain market exposure over the long term. So this one can carry specific sector risks, but that is just sector risks associated with the broader Australian market.

[00:13:24] So the next one is our Global X FANG+ ETF. This one's a really easy ticker to remember as well. It's just FANG. So this one seeks to invest in companies at the leading edge of next gen technology. So what does next gen technology mean? It's kind of names that you're all familiar with through your everyday life.

[00:13:44] So for example Meta, as we all know, used to be called Facebook, and that's where the name actually came from. Amazon, we just-- I think Prime Day's actually finishing today. So yes, Amazon, Meta, Netflix, I'm sure we all have a Netflix account. Alphabet, who's in charge of Google, and Microsoft. But some other names which you might not be familiar with include NVIDIA, which is one of the largest chip makers that just enable AI to run.

[00:14:10] So without NVIDIA or without chips, you won't be able to use AI. Some other names include Micron. So we've covered that NVIDIA is a chip maker. Micron is a memory and storage chip maker, so you kind of need the chip to be able to run AI, and to run AI, of course, you know, when you ask ChatGPT, your query is about, "Oh, okay, so this has been my diet.

[00:14:31] What would you recommend?" Or, "This has kind of been my exercise regime. What would you recommend based on my diet for the last few days for me to achieve my goal?" So it needs to pull up your past queries, and all that requires memory and storage chips. So that is a very up-and-coming name, especially in the tech field, Micron.

[00:14:49] And the last one is Palantir. So Palantir is also probably one of those companies that most people have never really heard of, but it's actually quietly becoming one of the biggest players in the AI space. So now just think about how much AI has transformed our everyday life, you know, the-- and there's so much data running in the back end.

[00:15:08] So then now try to think about how much data a large organization generates every single day. So from hospitals, governments, banks, and even military, they collect little, little, little thousands and millions of pieces of information, but having all that data isn't exactly the same as understanding it. So what Palantir does is it actually builds software that helps gather all this information for organizations so that they can utilize it to the best of their advantage.

[00:15:35] So what we like to call Palantir is essentially AI's smart little assistant itself to help organize all the little tidbits of information that we're generating through our everyday lives. So this one, it has a management fee of zero point three five percent. Its year-to-date performance is up five point six percent, and this one has actually garnered over one hundred and forty million dollars of inflows year to date.

[00:16:02] So this one is one of our more popular funds, and is also one of our larger funds. It currently sits at over one point six billion dollars.

[00:16:10] Whoa, just in the one fund.

[00:16:12] Mm-hmm.

[00:16:13] It's a lot of money.

[00:16:15] It certainly is. So this one just holds 10 stocks. So on average, I don't know how many zeros. I lost count of how many zeros there are in a billion, but on average, yeah, it's just one tenth of 1.6 billion is how much we hold in each of the names.

[00:16:28] So it's a lot of money. So this one we would classify as more volatile than the broader market because it's a bit more concentrated. There are only 10 holdings, remember? But we would also classify this on that range as a more potential for higher growth potential and a bit more into a thematic growth range.

[00:16:47] But we can also see this layered to kind of enhance your foundations if you want. So think about going back to A300, and then maybe you would layer on, for example, a US 100, U100, or a broader global international ETF, and you just go, "Hmm, I have a lot of broad index market exposure. Maybe I just want to amp it up a little bit just by getting a bit more exposure to these US large cap behemoths," these tech companies, which we know we're, we're using every day, and they're driving headlines every day, then this one you might consider a small allocation to help enhance your core So now this one.

[00:17:24] So this one might sound a bit, I guess, nerdy to talk about, but this is actually one of the favorite ETFs that I like talking about recently, just because there's so much happening around it. So this is our Global X Semiconductor ETF. So the ticker is SEMI, S-E-M-I, and it invests into the world's largest and most influential 30 semiconductor companies.

[00:17:48] So some of the top holdings, some might be familiar, so NVIDIA, Broadcom, SK Hynix, you might have seen that in the headlines recently. So that's a Korean, a chip maker. So let's do a quick show of hands of who's familiar with semiconductors and why they've actually become so popular or why they're becoming, I guess, really, really frequently the headlines.

[00:18:11] I don't think many of us would know this one.

[00:18:14] Yeah. That's fine. No. So this is why I wanted to share this one and which is why- Yeah ... I find it so interesting. Ooh, we do have something in the chat.

[00:18:22] Mm.

[00:18:22] Yes. It's used in AI, or what actually I like to think about it is that semiconductors is actually the backbone of AI itself.

[00:18:33] So you can think of semiconductors as the brains inside all the modern technology. So semiconductors, they're in charge of processing all the information. They're in charge of storing the memory, and more importantly, they're actually in charge of doing the computation. So by computation, kind of think about it like a calculator, but a calculator is simple when you do one plus two equals three.

[00:18:55] Imagine all the computation that has to happen in the back end for us to... for it to actually learn the models and generate the output of AI. What is powering all that? It's actually semiconductors. So that's why we like to call semiconductors as the backbone of AI. Without it, AI can't exist. So every time you use ChatGPT, or every time you stream Netflix, or upload something to the cloud, or even every time you drive maybe a Tesla or an electric vehicle, semiconductors are actually the ones that are working in the back end.

[00:19:28] So this one- Has a management fee of 0.45%, and this one, uh, has been one of our best performing, not only in terms of flows because it's received over $250 million of flows just year to date, but this one's year to date performance has actually been 78%, and it's actually overperformed over 100% for the last 12 months over a calendar year period.

[00:19:55] Yeah. Funny story about this one, Jas. When we did our three-part course a few years ago, I used SEMI as an example. So I was buying SEMI to show- Yeah ... people how to use it in Perla, and I never sold. And I went back in there the other day, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much- Yeah ... it's

[00:20:14] grown. Mm-hmm.

[00:20:15] But of course, going back to this disclaimer, past performance is no indicator of future performance, and you shouldn't just buy any investment just purely because it's done really good, especially in the short term. But really, this is going back to the fundamentals or the investment case behind this ETF, and that is AI we know is here to stay.

[00:20:34] It's fundamentally going to change the way we live. So how can we get a share of this in terms of investing and growth? Semiconductors is a way because it's essentially the backbone. And as Molly said, sometimes once you've decided that these ones you want to invest, then you're investing for the long term.

[00:20:52] So maybe it is good just to put a little bit of money in maybe as a satellite holding, which I will cover shortly, and to set and forget and just let it surprise and wow you. Okay, the next one. So the next one, following on the theme of AI, I thought I would share one of our fund that allows you to invest in the whole AI value chain, and that is the Global X Artificial Intelligence ETF, so ticker GXAI.

[00:21:19] So this one is definitely in our thematic range. So this one has a management fee of fifty-seven basis points, or 0.57%. And this year, similar to... Actually, no, no, no, not similar to SEMI. SEMI has been very popular by far, but this one has, uh, garnered around forty million dollars of flows YTD, so it's not as popular as SEMI, but still fairly popular.

[00:21:40] And this fund currently sits at around two hundred and seventy million dollars with its YTD performance at 18%. So what is the key differentiator between, for example, this one or SEMI or any other AI product out there in the market right now? So the key differentiator about this product, and which is why we really like it as a diversifier to give you broad exposure to the AI thematic, is that it actually invests in the whole AI value chain.

[00:22:09] So what do I mean by that? So according to some very smart people, a lot smarter than me, the total AI market size in 2035 is going to be $3.7 trillion in US. So that's many, many more zeros on top of the $1.6 billion that is bang. So we know that the G- the, um, AI market is going to be huge, and it's definitely gonna be here to stay.

[00:22:32] And within that, what our researchers have classified is that essentially there's three main pillars into what enables artificial intelligence. So one is the compute side, or you can think about it as the hardware. So that includes semiconductors, you know, the, or the physical infrastructure that allows to actually run AI.

[00:22:52] So that's the hardware And then the next one, like I mentioned, is the infrastructure. So that would be all the raw materials or the energy infrastructure and utilities that are actually needed to power up all this AI usage and the data consumption. And then lastly, so we've covered hardware, the infrastructure, then of course last we, we actually have the users of AI.

[00:23:14] So that would be the enablers, so the ones that are, you know, building more and more models, more advanced models, then also the adopters, including enterprises. So at the moment, what we see is that in terms of the G- AI life cycle, we're still actually in very, very early adoption stage. So if you think about it, AI really just came into our vocabs over the past two, three years, but even then, the growth has been exponential.

[00:23:39] But what we see in terms of its overall usage and its adoption in terms of how it can actually contribute to GDP, we're still in its really infancy stages. So this one will give you exposure to the whole AI value chain, and it's diversified in the fact that the index methodology or how the companies are selected to be included in this ETF have to go through a really rigorous revenue scoring system to make sure they're really true to label.

[00:24:06] So they have to go through all their balance sheets and really determine, okay, is this company a true AI company? Or just because a company has AI in its name, does... is it actually truly an AI company? So there's a lot of work that's done in the back end to filter out to make sure what only companies that we consider pure play in there.

[00:24:25] And individual stocks are capped at either 3% or 1% to make sure you really have a broad, diversified basket that gives you exposure to the full GX AI value chain. So this one is considered a thematic. We would not put it in your core because it is more volatile because obviously there's a bit more risk associated with it, and it's not really suitable to be used as a big portion of your portfolio over the long term.

[00:24:52] But this would be good for investors wanting exposure to one of the fastest growing sectors and in a diversified way as well. Okay, so now I've saved the best to last. Best in the sense that this one has actually been one of our most popular funds by far out of all the 52 funds that we have. So I mentioned Semi, I think had 250 mil, but this one, WIRE, the Global X Copper Miners ETF, ticker WIRE, W-I-R-E, has actually got two 80 or two 80 or $290 million of flow year to date.

[00:25:30] So you're probably thinking, I've never heard of this ETF before. Uh, you know, you kind of get the idea of why ETFs like FAANG or SEMI or even GXAI make sense in terms of popularity, but why Copper Miners? Okay, so let's do a little interactive exercise. Uh, no matter where you are right now, maybe you're on the bus listening, or maybe you're at home looking at the recording.

[00:25:52] So look around yourself. So you have your phone, you have the lights that are on, your Wi-Fi, maybe the laptop you're using to watch this webinar. What is one thing that all these have in common? You can shout it out, put it in

[00:26:08] the chat. Um- I'll check the chat 'cause I think I might know, just 'cause of the name of the ETF, I'm gonna guess-

[00:26:14] Yeah

[00:26:15] they're made from copper.

[00:26:16] Yes. Or, but really, you're too smart. You jumped ahead. So the one thing that all those things have in common is that they need electricity, and electricity needs copper. So that's where it all comes from.

[00:26:28] Okay. So I'm- I was like, is it all made out of copper? No, but that makes sense.

[00:26:32] No. It needs electricity. Heard that.

[00:26:33] Yeah. No, no, no, you still got it right. But yes. So everything that you're s- not everything, but a lot of your everyday life in terms of what you use that consumes electricity would require copper in some shape or form, and this is actually one of the biggest mega trends happening right now in the real world, but it's not really talked about as much as AI, is electrification.

[00:26:57] So the world is becoming more electric than ever before. So kind of what we have here, we're building AI data centers. You know, we have EVs. There's more and more of them, and then we're building out our renewable energy sources like wind and solar. We're also making updates to the grid, and charging stations.

[00:27:15] And everything that we're doing, even all these simple ChatGPT requests or Claude requests that we're making, all of this requires an enormous amount of electricity. And to move electricity from where it's generated to where it's needed, you need one thing above anything else, and that is copper, because it's actually one of the best conductors of electricity and heat, and it's incredibly durable.

[00:27:39] So even though you probably don't think about copper very often, I've probably never thought of copper, you know, other than, you know, the rose gold that was kind of very popular a few years ago, you actually rely on it every single day. So now here's the interesting part. Wire doesn't actually own physical copper itself, so this is something what we call a picks and shovels investment.

[00:28:01] So like the name suggests, a wire actually gives you exposure or invests into copper miners company. So that's why we say the picks and shovels. So kind of going back to the analogy of which I was saying before, when you try to stock pick is you go, "Okay, instead of trying to find the needle, why don't you own the whole haystack?"

[00:28:21] Another way to think about it is that this copper miners is the whole haystack. So instead of trying to predict which EV manufacturer will win or which AI company will dominate over the long term, you're investing further down the supply chain in a commodity that almost all of them need. So it's kind of like the same basis as potentially why you might want to invest in semiconductors, the backbone of AI.

[00:28:45] Potentially, you might want to consider investing in copper because electrification, everything that we're seeing, all these increased demands, they all require electricity. And what does electricity require? Copper. So let me just go over that one more time. So that doesn't actually, the investment case isn't actually copper prices are going to explode, so that is why I want to invest in this copper minus ETF.

[00:29:09] It's actually much simpler. So if you think long-term down the track, so maybe over the next 10 to 20 years, what you can probably say with a fair amount of certainty is that the world in 10 or 20 years is likely going to need a lot more copper to keep up with the growing electricity demands that we have in this growing world.

[00:29:30] And that is why even though its year-to-date performance has actually been minus 2%, it's actually been one of our most popular funds this year with the most flows, and is currently sitting at $800 million with a management fee of 0.65%. Yeah, so I thought it wasn't fair just to share all of our really high-performing funds such as semiconductor.

[00:29:52] I also thought, you know, let me show you a really popular fund that actually has... its performance hasn't been as great as other funds, but really one to showcase the investment strategy and why people have such conviction in this thematic. So some of the names which you may be familiar with, of course, include BHP, but some that you might not be familiar with include Southern Copper, Glencore, et cetera.

[00:30:16] So this one is suitable for investors wanting exposure to the electrification trend. This one definitely carries sector risk, and this one is definitely considered to be more a satellite holding as opposed to a core holding as well.

[00:30:31] So interesting. I've never thought about copper before.

[00:30:35] Yeah. So one way we think about, or our kinda investment philosophy at Global X when it comes to thematic is, you know, thematics tend to be seen as a bit more risky or, or a bit more short term in terms of what's popular.

[00:30:49] But the way we approach thematic investing is we really think about these mega forces that are really fundamentally going to change the way we live. So yes, I guess AI is kinda a bit topical in the sense that, you know, it's really just come into vogue over the past few years, but we fundamentally believe that this is going to change the way we live.

[00:31:07] And likewise with copper, you know, it's no joke or no doubt that, you know, the world that we're living in is becoming more and more electrified, so that means because of that demand, it has to be from somewhere. So that's why then these investment opportunities arise.

[00:31:22] Yeah, makes sense.

[00:31:23] Okay, so now we've covered all of those ETFs.

[00:31:26] So just a quick recap, we have A300 broad index exposure, largest three hundred companies listed on the ASX, ticker A300. We also have the Global X FANG+ ETFs, ticker FANG, so it gives you next innovative US tech names, and this one can either be used to enhance your core holding or as a satellite holding because it's more concentrated.

[00:31:54] And then we went through the semiconductor ETF, so ticker SEMI, so which is the backbone, or you can think about it as the backbone of AI, the hardware that allows AI to run. GXAI, so an artificial intelligence ETF that allows you exposure to the full value chain of AI. And then lastly, the Global X Copper Miners ETF Yeah, so this is just a little quick comparison between the risk and the potential reward profile of the five ETFs and kind of the main focus or the thematic behind it.

[00:32:29] And I guess really what this sh- is showing is the higher the risk, the higher the reward. So with something like A300, because you've got those banks, those shopping center- Mm-hmm ... those very steady companies which are probably growing at a slower pace than, say, those kind of AI companies, that's where the risk is.

[00:32:47] It's lower down on the risk is of-- and the growth is gonna not gonna be as high because it's-- or it's just kind of slowly ticking along-

[00:32:54] Yeah ...

[00:32:55] as opposed to- Of

[00:32:55] course, yeah ... yeah. You've hit the nail on the head. Yeah, yeah. So risk and reward are kind of two sides of the same coin, in the sense that for you to get return, it means you have to take on risk, and if you want more return, oftentimes that means you have to take on more risk.

[00:33:10] But remember, return is something that goes both ways. So just because something-- I say this touch wood, just because semi, uh, semiconductor ETF has gone up 78%, uh, year to date, it is also likely that you can experience the same magnitude, but on the downside. It hasn't happened, and it's very unlikely to happen, but it is a potential, and that's something that you need to consider.

[00:33:31] And going back to Molly's example of A300, so the reason why it's less risky is also because it's more diversified. So like she said, it gives you exposure, you know, to the bigger companies across all the different sectors, but also because it gives you exposure to 300 companies within the one ETF. So the big, big favorites box of 300 different types of chocolate, so that means that really it's so diversified, especially in comparison to something like FANG, which only has 10 stocks.

[00:34:00] Okay, so now I'll quickly kind of run through a little portfolio construction theory or approach that I like to tell investors, because now we've kind of covered a few ETFs, and then one of the biggest questions I always get is, "Okay, Jess, so now how do I actually build my portfolio? You know, I've got ideas on, like, the ETFs or some exposures that I want.

[00:34:21] Can you give me a framework, or how can I actually approach building my portfolio?" So this is a way that we like to educate and teach people, because we think it's easy to understand and also makes a lot of sense conceptually. So what we say is the core satellite model. So think about it as, yeah, essentially this little picture that we have where the core is a main planet, and then you have little satellites that are surrounding the planet.

[00:34:46] So the core is going to be the foundation of your portfolio, and when we say foundation, uh, we mean foundation by size. So usually a core takes up anywhere between 60 to 90% of your portfolio. So that's the big part of it. So that's why we say it's a foundation. It's gonna be the one that's really going to drive the majority of your market exposure and give you your long-term returns, especially over the whole tenure of your investing journey.

[00:35:15] So this is the one that you're going to rely on to do the heavy lifting, and it's going to do the quiet heavy lifting. And what we mean by quiet heavy lifting is if you use broad index exposures such as A300, or give you broad global international share exposure, or maybe you have some fixed income, that's really gonna be the bedrock, the foundation that will give you market exposure at a relatively low cost and relatively low risk compared to some of the ones that you might put in your satellite.

[00:35:44] So now satellite are the smaller exposures that kind of gather around the core. So it'll make up anywhere from 40 to 10 or even less of your portfolio, and individually maybe you might like them at 5% holdings or 10% holdings. It doesn't really matter. It's all up to you. But essentially the point is one satellite holding is going to be much smaller than your core holding, and it's a way for you to express your tactical tilts, or y- it's a way for you to gain exposure, but essentially without jeopardizing your whole portfolio.

[00:36:16] So some examples of how you could use satellites include FAANG as satellite itself, or you can use it to enhance your core, like I said, or you can simply just have some exposures of our semiconductor GXAI WIRE, or if you still have individual stocks, they can be considered as satellite positions as well.

[00:36:35] Another way I like to think of it, Jess, is you've got, like, your capsule wardrobe with your staples, and then you've got, like, your statement pieces, which can sometimes be a bit of hit or miss. So that's my analogy for that one.

[00:36:48] I like that. I really like that. Yeah, because the kinda, the theory behind it, and the litmus test I like to tell people is essentially the core of your portfolio, imagine if none of your satellites or, you know, all the fancy scarves and high-color pieces in your wardrobe, the one-offs, are all gone.

[00:37:05] So your portfolio just consists of your core. Would you be happy with that, and would you be able to sleep at night with that as your portfolio for the next 20, 30, 40 years? That's really a litmus test in terms of, okay, am I building it correctly in terms of a risk-reward profile that would match my risk-reward profile, and also give me my wanted investment outcomes over the long term.

[00:37:28] Totally.

[00:37:29] Yep, so this is just an example of how you might comprise your portfolio using some of GX products. We also, like I mentioned, we have over 50 funds in our, all of our products suite, and we have funds covering all asset classes from equity, fixed income, even some alternatives such as physical gold, crypto, core, and thematics.

[00:37:51] So if you want more, please visit our website globalxets.com.au. One of the best, I guess, tools or educational pieces, research tools that I use and actually highly recommend, I don't have the physical copy with me now, but you can go on our website and it's something called The ETF Handbook. And what I really like about this is that it covers all the ETFs listed on the ASX from all the different issuers.

[00:38:19] So it's not just Global X. We have all the ETFs available for you to invest in, in Australia, and it's just a really handy guidebook for you to go, "Okay, I want broad index Australian exposure." So you go to that section and it'll show you all the a- available ETFs, the kind of investment strategy, the index, the management fees, and how you can access it.

[00:38:40] So that's a great tool.

[00:38:42] And also, it's worth notice, pointing out as well, like when you're looking at these different products, you'll notice that there are some and they're really similar. So there might be another company has a top 300, Global X has a top 300, and I always think like in these times when you've got companies with similar offerings, Jess, is that where you just go, "Okay, well, the fees are lower with A300, so, like, why would I pay more?"

[00:39:10] Yeah.

[00:39:12] So you've touched- When I'm buying

[00:39:12] that same product. Yeah. So you've touched on two really great points that I, I'd really wanna highlight. So the first is what I say, looking under the hood. So just because two ETFs have similar tickers or similar names, they might not, A, give you similar exposure. So that's why first we say look under the hood, really check the website and understand what it is you're investing into, and more importantly, because ETFs are essentially a wrapper, what the underneath is.

[00:39:37] What it's actually giving exposure to in the underlying holdings. And then after you've done that, so let's just say there are two examples which you've looked under the hood that give you very, very similar exposure, you're very happy about them, but then how do you decide between the two? But judging by management fees would make a lot of sense because, like we say, compounding is the eighth wonder of the world.

[00:39:56] Compound, in terms of fees, can also negatively chip away at your portfolio over time. So think about that in terms of just the potential cost difference that you can make in your portfolio over long term.

[00:40:08] And just one quick question. Linda, you might need to explain it again. So she just said, "So the boost to growth is actually the growth of value, not percentage of portfolio."

[00:40:17] I've just said-

[00:40:18] So the boost to growth... Oh, let me go back on the slide. The boost to growth is actually the growth of value, not the percentage of the portfolio.

[00:40:27] I've just asked if you can maybe just re-explain maybe what you're meaning, Linda, and we can answer that question at the end.

[00:40:33] Yeah. Yeah, so we've covered some of the risks of ETFs.

[00:40:38] Not everything is always up. Past performance is no indicator of future performance, and that risk and reward come side and side, so that's something to be aware of. And most importantly, because this is personal finance, it's so important to really understand your personal risk profile, your risk tolerance, how much risk can you take on and still fall asleep at night because, you know, investing is a long journey, that it's gonna be with you for 20, 30, 40 years.

[00:41:04] So it's something essentially that you have to be able to stomach. Yeah, and lastly, before we open to a bit of Q&A, is how to buy an ETF. So open a brokerage account. There's lots available, Pearler, CommSec, and there's even brokerage accounts via other ETF issuers. So this one is really up to personal preference.

[00:41:25] So the main things that I look at when I look at a brokerage account is really its user experience and also the costs and fees associated with investing. So does it charge me $10, a flat fee for every single time I trade, no matter how big the size, or is it kind of like some other brokerages where they offer $0 brokerage fee when you buy into an ETF?

[00:41:47] It's just something to be aware of and to look into. So once you've set something up, you deposit your funds, and then you just open up your brokerage account, and you search for the ETF ticker. So that's a four-letter, uh, word, letter combination. Hmm. So A300, Semi Wire, GXAI, um, you enter that in, and then you can go buy or sell, and then, yes, and then you just click buy.

[00:42:11] So some other tips to when you actually buy an ETF is I would say to always try to avoid half an hour after market opens and half an hour before market closes. So try to, so maybe from 11 onwards or 10:30 onwards to around 3:00, 3:30, that's the best time for you to place your trade. So the reason why I say that is because I'm on the ETF issuer side, so I see everything that happens when the market opens.

[00:42:36] So when the market opens, a lot is happening for everyone, so not just the ETF issuers, but the people on the back end, on the exchange, everyone from overnight. So there's just a lot of unnecessary noise, so that's why we tend to say wait half an hour for everything to settle down, and then that's probably a better time to purchase an ETF.

[00:42:55] That's about it that I have for today. Are there any other questions online, or if Linda, if you just wanted to...

[00:43:02] Oh, here we go. So I took it to mean growth meant the rise to your dividends, not the way the portfolio percentage is decided upon.

[00:43:10] Not the way the portfolio...

[00:43:12] Oh, are you meaning so a growth, yeah, so a growth company, it generally is growing in- Like in size as opposed to companies that pay dividends who aren't growing as fast?

[00:43:26] Oh, okay. So yeah. So the way I read your question and maybe how I might respond, so when I say high growth thematic or ones that would give you higher growth potential, uh, yeah, I'm referring to actually the size of the company, and thus the size of your ETF and portfolio. So usually when it comes to investing and when we talk about a company paying dividends, we classify them as high yield or high dividend companies.

[00:43:53] So that's one that would give you higher cash flow in return. So when I say high growth companies, it's one where the value or the size of the company would grow over time. I hope that answers your question, Linda.

[00:44:06] That's it. Got it. Thanks. Awesome. And then just another quick question, are we in an AI bubble?

[00:44:12] What are your thoughts on that?

[00:44:13] So that one I would say, going back to the investment fundamentals of what AI is doing, I would say no. We're probably experiencing some blips in terms of some aspects or some parts of the AI, I guess, market are getting really hot and overbought. But back to what I was saying, in terms of our research and what we think, is that we haven't actually seen the impact of AI into GDP yet.

[00:44:39] And so that's why we think we're still in its early, really, really early stages. So yes, as consumers, we've probably all got maybe one or, or two AI subscriptions, but then when it comes to broader businesses, they're still really at the beginning stages of trying to adopt and work in AI into how they run a business.

[00:44:58] So that is why I think from the fundamentals of what AI is trying to do, we're still at the tip of the iceberg and still really early on in the cycle.

[00:45:06] Thank you so much, Jess. This has been awesome. I have to say, every time I hear you speak, I make money, so thank you so much. But really appreciate you breaking down.

[00:45:15] And I can see a few people have just jumped on now. Guys, make sure you go back. The recording will be out tomorrow midday, so make sure you put the time aside to listen to this because it was really fantastic. And just to go through all the different ETFs, get a good understanding of them, and they're such a great, diverse, mixed range.

[00:45:35] Yeah, as Nicola said- Nicole said then, "Thanks, Jess. That was really helpful." Another, "Big thank you for showing the variety of ETFs, Jess." Um, but

[00:45:44] we- Thank you. Thank you for having me ...

[00:45:45] really appreciate your time. And yeah, I would also say Jess also shares, as she said, lots of really good, fun tips through her Instagram as well, leungleungwei, L-E-U-N-G-wei.

[00:45:59] Yeah.

[00:46:00] So we'll make sure we pop that in the email with the recording so you can give her a follow there too.

[00:46:05] Thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure here as always. I always have so much fun. I hope you did too, and I hope that you learned a bit more about ETFs than you did before.

[00:46:13] Awesome. And just one last comment from someone, "Thank you.

[00:46:16] A lot of the stuff you showed us was about ETFs that I'd never heard of before." So there you go.

[00:46:20] That's great.

[00:46:20] Awesome. Thanks, Jess. All right. See you later. Bye. Thank

[00:46:23] you. Bye.

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