The All-in-One ETF Backlash Is Weird
A month ago, I said the hate on indexing was getting wild — but now the hate on All-in-Ones is getting just as out of hand. Every month, we see new investors who don’t get why XEQT is so popular, but lately, the pushback feels like it’s on another level.
One person even said XEQT investors are “lazy and uneducated.” I take real issue with that — not just because it’s condescending, but because it completely misses the point. Some of the most thoughtful investors I know choose all-in-one ETFs because they understand how market pricing works. It’s not ignorance — it’s a conscious decision to take advantage of global diversification, low costs, and simplicity.
And weak arguments like “Why doesn’t Warren Buffett do it then?” are just deflections. This isn’t about what Buffett can do with billions of capital and insider access — it’s about what the rest of us can do with our own personal resources, time, and goals.
To be honest, I think some people are attacking XEQT defensively. They feel the need to justify why they’re not following the herd, so they exaggerate reasons to make it sound like a poor choice. But there are plenty of viable strategies out there that aren’t mainstream — and we see that all the time on Blossom, from stock pickers and DIY investors doing their own thing.
What’s often misunderstood is that XEQT’s popularity isn’t about hype — it’s rooted in the age-old principle of market-cap indexing, the same thing written about in classic investing books. Before All-in-Ones existed, you had to piece this together manually using multiple ETFs, which the Canadian Couch Potato has talked about for years. When low-cost, one-ticket solutions came out, people understandably got excited.
That doesn’t make it a trend. If anything, the strategy is deliberately boring. It will never be the best or worst performer in a given year. VFV, for example, has crushed XEQT since the latter’s inception — and that’s exactly what you'd expect from a broad, diversified approach.
All-in-Ones aren’t about chasing returns — they’re about consistency, structure, and peace of mind. And that’s not lazy. That’s smart.
Happy Canada Day!
