The Vanguard Life Strategy 80% Equity Fund provides 80% exposure to global equities and 20% exposure to global bonds via several index-tracking funds run by Vanguard. US equities is its largest allocation, followed by UK equities and global bonds. Its three biggest holdings, which account for nearly 60% of the fund, are Vanguard US Equity Index Fund, Vanguard FTSE Developed World ex-UK Equity Index Fund and Vanguard FTSE UK All Share Index Unit Trust. The non-UK exposure within bonds is hedged back to sterling but equities are not hedged. Index funds held within the fund are automatically rebalanced to static target weights. The fund only holds a selection of Vanguard index funds and ETFs, which helps reduce costs.

The fund is part of the wider Vanguard Life Strategy range of funds that offer five pre-determined mixes of equities and bonds in order to meet a range of risk and return profiles among investors. Equities offer higher potential returns than bonds – but are riskier. If you are a more cautious investor you might want to choose a LifeStrategy fund with less equities and more bonds. An adventurous investor on the other hand might want to choose a LifeStrategy fund with more equities.

Managed by highly experienced and well-resourced team at Vanguard, the range stands out with a clear and well-defined investment process and consistently produced strong risk adjusted returns relative to peers. With an ongoing charge of just 0.22%, these funds are the ultimate, globally diversified one stop shop. Spreading risk across equities and bonds, they are the ideal way for beginner investors who are comfortable with a high level of risk to get started investing.

August 2020