The iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) has gone through a dip in the last few weeks as the global share market suffered from worries about a trade war between the US and various countries.
As the chart above shows, the IOZ ETF has fallen 7% since 14 February 2025. Other investments have also fallen over the period, but this is still a significant fall for an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Legendary investor Warren Buffett once said:
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.
Is this a good time to be greedy? Below are my thoughts.
The IOZ ETF is one of the largest ETFs on the ASX and it has an annual management fee of 0.05% – it's one of the cheapest funds on the ASX.
For investors who regularly buy the IOZ ETF, being able to invest at a cheaper price should be appealing. If we're going to buy anyway, we may as well take advantage of the lower valuation. It's certainly possible the fund could fall even further, but I'd suggest it'd be even better value if that happened.
The IOZ ETF gives investors significant exposure to the biggest businesses on the ASX such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ). If investors want more exposure in their portfolio to ASX blue-chip shares, this fund is an effective way to do it.
Some investors may feel nervous about what's going on with the US and global share markets because of tariffs, but at the same time, recognise it's good to invest at lower prices. We may feel confident enough to invest in the local ASX share market.
When share prices noticeably fall, I think it's a good time to invest.
There are a lot of choices on the ASX that we can buy. When I think about what looks the best value, or what could make the biggest returns in the next three years, the IOZ ETF is not at the top of my list of ideas.
I really like ASX shares, but I'm not expecting big profit growth from large ASX bank shares and ASX mining shares in the next three years. Profit growth is normally what sends share prices higher and there could other investments that deliver stronger performance.
A 7% fall is sizeable, but there are other funds that have declined further and could offer stronger rebound potential. For example (at the time of writing) since 14 February 2025, the Global X Fang+ ETF (ASX: FANG) has dropped 14.7% – this fund gives Aussies exposure to 10 of the largest US tech companies like Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon. Sometimes the best times to invest for the long-term can be a bit uncomfortable, such as during the COVID-19 crash of 2020. Investing in US shares may seem uncomfortable this month (or even this year).
However, the FANG ETF isn't very diversified compared to the IOZ ETF, so I'd view an investment today as an opportunistic addition rather than a core position in our portfolios.
Funds like VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL) and Betashares Global Quality Leaders ETF (ASX: QLTY) have dropped a similar amount as the IOZ ETF but I believe have significantly higher growth potential because of their underlying quality metrics and the global growth aspirations of the underlying businesses.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.