ETFs continue to solidify position as a portfolio staple

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

19 February 2026

Financial advisers have further fuelled the ongoing exchange traded fund (ETF) boom by taking a more “strategic” and “proactive” approach when it comes to building client portfolios, choosing to include the investment vehicle with “conviction” rather than as a passive allocation.

According to investment specialist Global X ETFs, these products have managed to shed the “traditional perception” that they are only passive index-tracking tools and instead have become a core component of the portfolio construction process for financial advisers.

“Some investors still prefer to simply buy the index, but what we are seeing more of across the adviser community is a far more proactive approach to portfolio design,” Manny Damianakis, Head of Sales at Global X ETFs, said.

“Advisers and their clients are using ETFs deliberately and strategically to express views, manage risk, and access opportunities that previously required individual stock picking.

“Earnings season has been a reminder of how volatile single-stock positions can be. We’ve seen big selloffs in names like CSL, Cochlear and AMP.

“Australians still love investing in shares, but a growing number of advisers are choosing ETFs as a way to avoid that concentrated risk while still maintaining targeted market exposure.”

Damianakis said the shift in investor preferences and the portfolio construction process has seen ETFs emerge as a strong choice to generate solid returns.

“Until recently, advisers were weighing up ETFs versus active managers,” he said.

“Today, ETFs are increasingly replacing individual stock ownership altogether. Active managers still have a place, particularly in alternatives or private assets, but ETFs are becoming the core building blocks of modern portfolios.”

Damianakis noted that investor and adviser appetite for ETF has recently centred on commodities, including gold and copper, with the Global X Copper Miners ETF (WIRE) recording $104 million in inflows in January alone – its strongest month ever seen.

“Instead of picking one from a handful of ASX‑listed copper miners and hoping for the best, advisers are allocating to diversified exposures like WIRE,” he said.

“They’re diversifying across geographies and business models, which is incredibly difficult to achieve with direct shares alone.

“We have seen this trend play out with the defence sector as well. Rather than trying to pick the next DroneShield, advisers are looking at our DTEC ETF to access a basket of global companies involved in defence innovation.”