Skip to Content
Market Matters Logo Rev

Core ETF Portfolio

For those seeking a dynamically managed, balanced ETF portfolio

10.42% Inception-to-date Performance

About the Portfolio

The Market Matters Core ETF Portfolio includes equity, fixed-income and alternative asset ETFs to populate a core portfolio within a well-defined (yet dynamic) asset allocation structure, broadly considered to be a balanced approach. The portfolio could serve as the ‘core’ for a broad range of more passively minded investors

Portfolio Performance
Portfolio 1M 6M 1Y 2Y PA 3Y PA ITD PA Total
CORE ETF 0.71% -0.25% 3.93% 9.70% 10.99% 10.42% 39.70%
RBA CASH RATE +3% 0.61% 3.61% 6.94% 6.93% 6.91% 6.85% 25.00%
VALUE ADD +0.10% (3.86%) (3.01%) +2.77% +4.08% +3.57% +14.70%

* Inception date 18/04/2023

Portfolio Holdings

trade now
CODE NAME WEIGHT (%) RISK TERM BUY DATE BUY PRICE ($) LAST PRICE ($) DIVIDEND ($) DAILY CHANGE (%) GAIN / LOSS (%)
A200ACTIVEBetaShares Australian 200 ETF15ModerateLong19/04/2023122.33148.7616.880.2735.40
VGSACTIVEVanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ex-Aus)13ModerateLong19/04/2023100.55160.5710.37-0.4870.00
HBRDACTIVEBetaShares Active Australian Hybrids Fund13LowLong19/04/202310.0110.051.800.1018.38
VSOACTIVEVanguard MSCI Aus Small Companies Index ETF10HighLong19/04/202364.0470.5811.49-0.0728.15
MVAACTIVEVanEck Australian Property ETF10MediumLong19/04/202320.9622.513.461.3123.90
IAFACTIVEiShares Core Composite Bond ETF10LowLong19/04/2023101.94100.566.670.375.19
CREDACTIVEBetashares IG Corporate Bond ETF15LowLong18/07/202523.4022.361.410.271.58
IFRAACTIVEVanEck FTSE Global Infra (Hedged) ETF5LowLong19/04/202321.0025.531.861.2330.43
GOLDACTIVEGlobal X Physical Gold5MediumLong19/04/202327.5651.89-0.8288.28
AAAACTIVEBetaShares Aus High Interest Cash ETF4LowLong19/04/202350.1650.265.720.0011.60

Recent Sales

trade now
Company code STOCK NAME ACTIVITY RISK TIME HORIZON EXIT DATE ENTRY PRICE ($) CLOSE PRICE ($) DIVIDENDS ($) GAIN / LOSS (%)
A200Betashares ASX 200 ETFTrimmed 5%ModerateLong21/01/2026122.33146.0213.4430.35
IAFiShares Core Composite Bond ETFTrimmed 7%LowLong18/07/2025101.94103.156.047.25
AAAHigh Interest Cash ETFTrimmed 3%LowLong18/07/202550.1650.184.478.95
AAAHigh Interest Cash ETFTrimmed 2%LowLong17/07/202450.1650.202.485.02

Opinions for positions held in the Core ETF Portfolio

First Up

The ASX 200 surged another +0.9% on Wednesday, taking the index well above 9200 for the first time; so much for Liberation Day tariffs, sticky inflation, falling house prices, and the US-Iran War. Gains were broad-based, with more than 75% of the main board advancing as the local market finally punched to new highs; it's only taken 110 trading sessions! A rampant resources market offset weakness in the banks, with BHP on its own contributing 40% of the day's 82-point advance. We don’t want to jinx the local index, but after advancing +5.6% from its intra-day low 9-trading days ago, as we said at the end of July: “We wouldn’t be short for quids.”

Read more

ASX200 Index

The ASX is set to open lower this morning following fairly aggressive selling of SPI Futures on Friday night after US 30-year bond yields popped to multi-year highs following the previous days FOMC vote where 3 members voted for an immediate rate hike. However, US stocks managed to reverse early losses and close strongly but little confidence returned to the SPI where it felt like some spread traders were buying the battered semiconductors after their almost 30% decline and using some money from the ASX to fund the purchases ahead of the looming uncertainty of reporting season.

Read more

First Up

The ASX 200 surged through 9000 yesterday, closing up +1% at a fresh 4-month high, supported by a soft inflation read (CPI). Gains were fairly broad-based for a triple-digit day with ~70% of the main board advancing, led by the rate-sensitive stocks. As we’ve alluded to in the last few morning reports, the ASX has been getting its mojo back of late, and the soft CPI hasn’t hurt the backdrop for local stocks. Even the Australian Financial Review quoted our comments along these lines overnight:

Read more

Australian 3-year bonds

Australian bond yields made fresh 3-week lows following yesterday’s CPI release, despite the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty around Iran. The inflation read should be soft enough to allow the RBA to sit on its hands for at least a few meetings to evaluate exactly how weak the Australian property market has become, and of course whether inflation really is under control. The 3s remain above the current cash rate, but if/when they start trading down towards 4.25%, it will be confirmation that bond traders agree with MM that the next RBA move could well be a cut.

Read more

First Up

The ASX 200 delivered a stellar albeit surprising performance on Tuesday, reversing early losses to close up +0.6%, posting a 6-week high in the process. The buying gathered momentum after lunch ahead of todays pivotal CPI inflation read, with bonds also strong; it felt like some hawks were squaring their positions in case the CPI comes in softer than expected.  However, what was most impressive about the performance was the manner in which the local market shrugged off weakness across the region, where the KOSPI (-11%) and Japanese Nikkei (-4%) combined with weak US futures to paint a clouded picture for risk assets.

Read more

Property stocks look interesting

Property stocks have caught our attention. On Friday, bond yields traded materially higher on a spike up in Oil prices prompting Aussie 3-year yields to increase by ~10bps. We flagged this at the time. In this scenario, the expectations would be for interest rate sensitive sectors like property to get sold off aggressively, yet that didn’t happen, implying the selling towards the sector has been exhausted. This week, those macro headwinds have eased and property stocks (and retailers for that matter) have rallied from near 52 week lows. We think both of these sectors offer very interesting value/yield opportunities at current levels. Today, we’ll focus on property.

Read more

ASX200 Index

At the index level, it appears the ASX 200 is comfortable trading around the 8800 level, but the volatility under the hood has been high. It’s just that funds have been rotating in an out of stocks/sectors rather that in and out of the market.  At this stage it appears the bulls require a “believable” resolution to the US-Iran conflict, &/or a cracking reporting season next month - at least expectations feel muted/cautious. However, when we look at the broad markets valuation its ok except on one front:

Read more

First Up

The ASX 200 again managed to reverse early losses on Tuesday to edge higher, with the local index continuing to display resilience into dips. The materials and tech sectors returned to the winners' enclosure, with the former adding 29-points on a day when the index closed up only 2-points. The banks were again the main drag on the market with the “Big Four” retreating almost 1%, offsetting much of the good work of BHP (+1.3%), South32 (+6.6%), and the gold stocks, many of whom closed more than +4% higher. Conversely, the lithium names which we discussed yesterday continued to decline: Liontown (-5.1%), Mineral Resources (-3.5%), and PLS Group (-1.7%).

Read more

ASX200 Index

The ASX remained anchored around the 8800 level last week despite a difficult week for miners and escalating US-Iran tensions that pushed oil back towards US$90/barrel. The game remains the same, money isn’t moving in or out of the local market, its just rotating between different stocks and sectors. We can still see the ASX200 trading back above 9000 in the coming months but it’s going to need a catalyst to move out of its comfort zone.

Read more

First Up

The ASX200 again fought back from early losses on Thursday to finish down less than 0.1%, with the performance mantle being passed to the banks and retailers while the miners, and in particular BHP Group (ASX: BHP), weighed on the index - not great timing after we sung the praises of the “Big Australian” on Thursday morning! The materials sector took almost 36-points off the ASX200 after BHP and Evolution delivered a 1-2 of disappointing trading updates:

Read more

Actions for positions held in the Core ETF Portfolio

Updated 31/10/2026 09:00 Active
A200
Updated 31/10/2026 09:00

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8900

Updated 30/10/2026 08:54
A200
Updated 30/10/2026 08:54

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200, around 8900

Updated 29/10/2026 08:59
A200
Updated 29/10/2026 08:59

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8850

Updated 28/10/2026 08:48
A200
Updated 28/10/2026 08:48

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8800 into Christmas

Updated 27/10/2026 08:50
A200
Updated 27/10/2026 08:50

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8800

Updated 26/10/2026 09:01
IWM
Updated 26/10/2026 09:01

MM believe the underperformance by ASX and US small-caps is maturing fast

Updated 26/10/2026 08:58
A200
Updated 26/10/2026 08:58

MM remains bullish towards the ASX 200 into 2027 around 8800

Updated 24/10/2026 09:23
A200
Updated 24/10/2026 09:23

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8800

Updated 23/10/2026 09:08
A200
Updated 23/10/2026 09:08

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200, around 8800

Updated 22/10/2026 08:51
A200
Updated 22/10/2026 08:51

MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8800

12.85% Active Growth Portfolio
9.55% Shawn’s Trade Ideas
9.67% Active Income Portfolio
18.98% International Equities Portfolio
4.78% Emerging Companies Portfolio

View the other Market Matters Portfolios

All portfolios
Back to top