The iShares Global 100 AUD ETF (ASX: IOO) puts some of the world’s biggest multinational businesses into a single ASX investment.

That includes companies leading areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, financial services, healthcare, and consumer technology.

With so many established global names under one roof, is the IOO ETF a good buy today?

A portfolio of global leaders

The IOO ETF tracks the S&P Global 100 Index, giving investors exposure to 100 major multinational companies from around the world.

I like the focus on businesses that have already built significant global operations.

Major holdings include Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and JPMorgan.

These companies give the fund exposure to areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital advertising, ecommerce, financial services, and consumer technology.

There are also businesses outside the technology sector, which gives investors exposure to other parts of the global economy.

For me, one of the advantages is that I do not need to decide which individual global giant will deliver the strongest returns over the next decade. The ETF gives me exposure to a collection of them through a simple ASX investment.

Concentration comes with trade-offs

The IOO ETF is more concentrated than some broad global ETFs.

With around 100 holdings, individual companies can have a greater influence on performance. Its largest positions also account for a meaningful proportion of the portfolio.

I do not necessarily see that as a negative. If I were buying this fund, I would be doing so because I specifically wanted greater exposure to some of the world’s biggest and most established businesses.

But investors should understand that the fund may behave differently from an ETF holding more than 1,000 stocks.

If several of its largest holdings struggle at the same time, performance could suffer.

Why I would buy

What I like most about the IOO ETF is the quality of the businesses it allows me to own without needing to build the portfolio myself.

Many of its holdings have spent years establishing global customer bases, strong brands, valuable technology, or leading positions within their industries.

I think several of them could still be considerably larger businesses a decade from now.

That makes IOO ETF a fund I would be comfortable gradually adding to rather than trying to pick the perfect entry point.

Foolish takeaway

So, would I buy the IOO ETF now? Yes, I would.

I like the opportunity to own a focused collection of major global businesses through one ASX investment.

The portfolio is relatively concentrated, and some of its biggest holdings are not cheap, so I would expect plenty of volatility along the way.

But for an investor prepared to hold for years, I think the companies inside IOO give the ETF a strong long-term foundation.

The post Should I buy the iShares Global 100 ETF (IOO) now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• You don’t need to own Nvidia to invest in AI – Here are the best Aussie artificial intelligence shares
• This ASX stock could be a surprise winner of the AI boom
• These are the 10 richest people in the world in September
• ASX shares investors are getting younger and trading more often: CBA report
• Want to invest in AI shares? Here’s how to do it on the ASX

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

There are 7,484,000 ‘lost’ superannuation accounts being held by super funds or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) today.

Lost super can take a few different forms.

The most common is forgotten super accounts that are inactive, or in other words, are not receiving employer or personal contributions.

They can also be super accounts with old contact details, making it impossible for the super funds to contact their owners.

Super funds will often hand these accounts over to the ATO, and the ATO will go about trying to reunite people with their money.

Altogether, these 7.484 million accounts are worth a staggering $21.2 billion.

How people lose track of their superannuation

Aussies can lose track of their superannuation if they have had to set up a new super account each time they’ve changed jobs.

This was commonplace prior to 1 July 2005, when the norm was for employers to select a single superannuation provider

Then the law changed to allow employees to nominate their preferred fund. This enabled their super to move with them.

Forgetting to update your contact details with your superannuation fund is another way super gets lost.

It’s less common these days given people tend to keep their mobile numbers, and to a lesser extent their email addresses, for life.

But before mobile phones and email existed, it was easy for workers to move house, which meant changing both their address and landline phone number, and forget to let their superannuation fund know.

It’s therefore more likely that most lost super accounts belong to older Australians nearing or already in retirement.

Couple reunited with $1M they didn’t know they had

Last year, the ATO returned more than $1.1 billion in unclaimed super through consolidations and direct payments to individuals.

Consolidations involve transferring money from several superannuation funds into one.

It’s surprisingly easy to do online at ATO online services, which you can also access through your myGov account.

ATO Deputy Commissioner Ben Kelly said many Australians did not realise they had lost superannuation.

He recounted a story whereby the ATO reunited a married couple approaching retirement with more than $1 million in lost super.

That lost super changed their lives.

It’s not just about reclaiming a lump sum of money that is yours.

It’s also about ending the opportunity cost of money not being invested appropriately for your stage of life.

Many workers take the default ‘balanced’ option with their superannuation because it sounds sensible.

However, ‘growth’ or ‘high growth’ strategies may be more appropriate, especially if they are young.

Kelly said:

The average amount in lost super is around $41,000.

Depending on your age, this could grow to hundreds of thousands of dollars if you put it to work for your retirement where you want it.

Think of lost super as lost opportunities – finding it now could help maximise your savings in retirement.

There’s another cost to not keeping track of your superannuation.

If you have multiple lost super accounts, you are also paying multiple account fees and possibly multiple insurance premiums, which are eating away at your retirement savings.

The ATO says about 4 million Australians have more than two superannuation accounts. The norm is to only have one.

Find your lost superannuation

Follow the ATO’s super health check to find out if you have lost super.

If you have multiple accounts, the instructions will help you choose a fund to become your sole fund moving forward.

They also explain how to arrange the transfer of all superannuation monies held in multiple accounts into your new fund.

Follow the instructions in the link above to update your contact details and your nominated beneficiary, too.

The post Are you one of 7.5 million Aussies with an average $41,000 in lost superannuation? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why I’d buy this ETF instead of picking 20 ASX shares
• 2 ASX passive income ideas I’d use to generate $400 a month in 2027
• Here’s the average Australian superannuation balance at 50 and 55
• How much can Australian pensioners own and earn under new rules starting next week?
• Want $50,000 a year in retirement? Here’s how much superannuation you may need

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a >>>disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

I enjoy researching individual companies and deciding which ASX shares I want to own.

But stock picking is not for everyone.

For an investor who wants a simpler way to build wealth over the long term, I think there is another option worth considering.

Building a portfolio takes work

Owning one or two ASX shares leaves a portfolio heavily dependent on what happens to a very small number of businesses.

To build reasonable diversification with individual stocks, I would be looking at roughly 20 companies spread across several industries.

That is certainly possible, but it also creates work.

I would want to understand why I owned every company, follow its results, keep an eye on management decisions, and decide whether anything had changed enough to reconsider the investment.

Some investors enjoy doing that. Others may have little interest in spending their spare time reading annual reports and company announcements.

For those investors, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) can make the process considerably easier.

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)

The VGS ETF would be one of my preferred choices.

With a single investment, the fund provides exposure to more than 1,000 stocks across developed share markets around the world.

That immediately spreads an investment across many more businesses than I could realistically research and own individually.

It also takes me well beyond the opportunities available on the ASX.

Australia has plenty of excellent listed companies, but there are enormous global industries where the biggest businesses are based overseas.

Through this Vanguard ETF, investors can gain exposure to companies operating across technology, healthcare, industrials, consumer products, financial services, and many other parts of the global economy.

The portfolio also stretches across countries including the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and major European markets.

I don’t need to find every winner

This is probably the part I like most for someone who does not want to pick stocks.

Individual investing requires making choices. I could buy an ASX share that looks promising today only to discover several years later that a competitor executed better or an industry developed differently from what I expected.

With the VGS ETF, I do not need to work out which individual global companies will eventually become the biggest winners.

Successful businesses can grow into larger positions within the underlying index, while companies that lose ground become less important over time.

There will still be periods when the ETF falls. It owns shares, so investors should expect market volatility.

But company-specific disappointments have far less ability to derail the overall investment when the money is spread across such a large portfolio.

It could make investing easier to stick with

I think there is also something to be said for simplicity.

An investor could regularly add money to the VGS ETF without needing to find a new stock idea every time cash becomes available.

That could make it easier to remain consistent through both strong and weak markets.

Foolish takeaway

I still enjoy choosing individual ASX shares, and I think stock picking can produce excellent results for investors prepared to put in the work.

But it is not a requirement for building long-term wealth.

Rather than selecting and following around 20 individual ASX shares, I think the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF provides a simple way to own a large collection of businesses around the world with a single investment.

For someone who wants to spend less time researching stocks and more time simply staying invested, I think that is a compelling proposition.

The post Why I’d buy this ETF instead of picking 20 ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Which ASX ETFs could be top picks for beginner investors?
• Could a $1 million superannuation balance provide $50,000 a year in retirement?
• Are these top Vanguard ETFs still a buy in September?
• What Warren Buffett’s investing style can teach superannuation investors
• How to build a winning ASX share portfolio and create wealth

Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.