Australian and International ETFs: Building Your Core Holdings

If an all-in-one ETF gives you diversification in a single trade, building your own core holdings gives you more control over exactly how your money is split. This usually comes down to two building blocks: an Australian shares ETF, and an international shares ETF.

The Australian Side

These ETFs give you exposure to Australia’s largest listed companies, think the big banks, miners, and healthcare names that dominate the ASX.

VAS (Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF) Tracks the S&P/ASX 300, covering the 300 largest companies on the Australian share market. It’s the largest and most heavily traded Australian shares ETF, with a management fee of 0.07%.

A200 (BetaShares Australia 200 ETF) Tracks the Solactive Australia 200 Index, covering roughly the 200 largest ASX companies. It’s currently the cheapest of the major options at a 0.04% management fee, with holdings very similar to VAS in practice.

IOZ (iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF) Tracks the S&P/ASX 200 directly, sitting between VAS and A200 on cost with a 0.05% management fee.

In practice, all three deliver very similar returns over time, since they’re all tracking largely the same group of companies. The differences come down to fees, exact index composition, and personal preference on issuer.

Australian ETFs at a Glance

Figures are approximate as of mid-2026 and will shift over time. 

The International Side

International shares means exposure to companies listed outside Australia. It’s worth spelling out just how big a share of that ‘international’ bucket the United States actually is. The US alone makes up somewhere around two thirds of the entire world’s share market by value, which means a genuinely global portfolio ends up being very US heavy almost by default, even before you go looking for it specifically.

IVV (iShares Core S&P 500 ETF) Tracks the S&P 500, the 500 largest companies listed in the United States. This is a pure play on the US market alone, with a management fee of 0.04%, making it one of the cheapest ETFs available on the ASX.

VGS (Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF) Tracks the MSCI World ex-Australia Index, covering more than a thousand large and mid sized companies across around 23 developed countries (the US, Japan, the UK, and Europe among them). Because of the US market’s sheer size, VGS still ends up around 70% US companies, but you also get real exposure to the rest of the developed world in the same trade. Management fee sits at 0.18%.

BGBL (Betashares Global Shares ETF) Covers essentially the same universe as VGS, developed markets excluding Australia, but at a lower management fee of around 0.08%. It’s a newer fund with a shorter track record than VGS, but the underlying exposure is very similar.

International ETFs at a Glance

Figures are approximate as of mid-2026 and will shift over time. 

Putting It Together

A common and simple approach is pairing one Australian ETF with one international ETF, for example VAS or A200 paired with VGS or BGBL, giving you a genuinely diversified core across both the Australian and global share markets in just two holdings.

Summary

Whether you lean toward VAS, A200, or IOZ for your Australian exposure, and IVV, VGS, or BGBL for your international exposure, the underlying goal is the same: broad, low cost diversification. The exact combination matters less than actually picking one and sticking with it consistently.