How to invest in an FTSE All-World ETF

With a FTSE All-World ETF you invest in virtually the entire global economy — including stocks from emerging markets.

What is a FTSE All-World ETF? 

FTSE (pronounced: 'Footsie') stands for Financial Times Stock Exchange. You might associate 'Financial Times' with the newspaper, but that has little to do with it: 'FTSE' refers to FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange.

FTSE Russell compiles various stock market indices, including the well-known FTSE 100 with the largest listed companies in the United Kingdom. An index shows the average value of a group of investments.

All-World means exactly what you think: the entire world. The FTSE All-World Index tracks the average stock value of around 4,000 different listed companies, spread across approximately 50 countries.

Not only developed regions participate, such as the United States and Europe, but also emerging countries — think China, India and Brazil. And not only large listed companies; mid-sized companies also form part of the index.

This means the FTSE All-World index contains approximately 90%-95% of the total value of all stocks in the world.

ETF stands for 'Exchange Traded Fund'. An ETF is an investment product that lets you invest in all kinds of companies or governments at once. The ETF pools the contributions of various investors and spreads the total across a broad selection of stocks or bonds. Returns are distributed among investors in proportion to their contribution.

Which companies are in the FTSE All-World?

The FTSE All-World index includes large American companies that you'll also find in many other indices, such as Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft. But large and mid-sized companies from other regions are also included: European companies such as ASML for example, and companies from emerging countries like China, India and Brazil.

The FTSE All-World index is broadly diversified not only by region, but also by sector: it includes tech stocks, but also stocks in financial services, industry, consumer goods, healthcare, telecommunications, real estate — and so on.

Why invest in a FTSE All-World ETF?

With a FTSE All-World ETF you invest in one go in virtually the entire global economy. You therefore spread maximally, across different world regions, sectors and companies.

If things aren't going quite right in one place — for example at a particular company or in a specific country — other companies, industries and regions can compensate for that loss. This way a FTSE All-World ETF reduces your risks as an investor.

This doesn’t mean you don’t carry any risk at all. The value of the FTSE All-World ETF moves in line with the global economy. There are also periods when things are going less well in the world, for example due to war or an economic crisis. This has an effect on the value of the FTSE All-World ETF.

The FTSE All-World ETF at Peaks

There are various parties that offer FTSE All-World ETFs. And there are various platforms on which you can buy these ETFs.

At Peaks you can invest in the FTSE All-World ETF from iShares. To do so, you simply need to add it to a new or existing investment portfolio, which takes you only a couple of minutes in the app. Because Peaks requires no minimum deposit, you can invest in virtually the entire global economy with as little as €1.

You can choose to create a separate portfolio containing only the FTSE All-World ETF, or you can add it to a portfolio with other ETFs to spread your risks even further. The choice is yours.

FTSE All-World ETF at low cost

The total fund costs of the FTSE All-World ETF are very low at 0.13% per year (total expense ratio + transaction costs of the fund) compared to similar ETFs that invest in the FTSE All-World index.

Peaks charges no transaction costs whenever you buy or sell the ETF.

You do pay spread on the stock market. This is the difference between the price at which market traders are willing to buy or sell stocks and ETFs.

Adding the FTSE All-World ETF to an existing portfolio

• Step 1. Open the app and go to 'Portfolio' 
• Step 2. Press 'Edit'
• Step 3. Add the FTSE All-World
• Step 4. (Optionally) add other ETFs to your portfolio and make sure your allocation comes to 100%
• Step 5. Ready? Let's get started!
  
  

Creating a new Peaks portfolio with the FTSE All-World ETF

Creating a new Peaks portfolio with the FTSE All-World ETF is very straightforward:

• Step 1. Open an Investment account 
• Step 2. Under 'Portfolio', choose 'Custom portfolio' 
• Step 3. Add the FTSE All-World 
• Step 4. (Optionally) add other ETFs to your portfolio and make sure your allocation comes to 100% 
• Step 5. Ready? Let's get started!