XEQT is a single ETF that holds roughly 8,300 companies across the US, Canada, international, and emerging markets, rebalances itself automatically, and costs 0.19% a year all-in. Here's exactly what's inside it, what it costs, how it compares to the alternatives, and who it's actually for. One ETF, 8,300 companies, 0.19% a year all-in, rebalances itself. Here's what's inside it and who it's for.
Key facts from iShares, August 2026
XEQT is a one-ticket, 100% stock ETF from BlackRock Canada. It charges a 0.17% management fee (0.19% MER all-in), holds about 8,300 companies across four regions through five iShares ETFs, and carries BlackRock's Medium risk rating.
| Fact | XEQT |
|---|---|
| Management fee | 0.17% a year (cut from 0.18% on Dec 18, 2025) |
| MER (all-in cost) | 0.19% a year |
| Risk rating (BlackRock) | Medium |
| Holdings | 5 iShares ETFs, about 8,300 companies |
| Currency hedging | None: unhedged |
| Return since 2019 launch | 14.65% a year to Aug 31, 2026 (past, not a forecast) |
| Distributions | Quarterly |
| Launched | August 7, 2019 |
| Net assets | About $22 billion |
XEQT (iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio) is an all-equity asset-allocation ETF from BlackRock Canada, launched in August 2019. Instead of holding individual stocks directly, it holds five other iShares ETFs covering four regions (the US portion is split across two of them), and blends them into one fixed set of target weights that it rebalances back to automatically.
The pitch is simple: buy one ticker, get global diversification, never think about rebalancing again. That's the entire reason the "just buy XEQT" phrase exists as a meme in Canadian personal finance circles: for a lot of people, it genuinely is that simple.
| Underlying ETF | Covers | Approx. weight |
|---|---|---|
| ITOT + XTOT | US total stock market (two iShares funds) | ~45.0% |
| XIC | Canadian stock market | ~25.6% |
| XEF | International developed markets | ~24.4% |
| XEC | Emerging markets | ~4.8% |
Weights drift slightly month to month and XEQT rebalances back to target automatically: you don't have to do anything.
Top individual positions, by weight (August 2026 snapshot)
Underneath those five ETFs, XEQT ultimately owns roughly 8,300 individual companies. The largest few make up a meaningful slice on their own: this is what "buying the whole market" actually looks like in practice:
| Company | Approx. weight |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA | ~4.2% |
| Apple | ~4.0% |
| Microsoft | ~3.7% |
Individual holding weights shift with market prices and change more often than the regional allocation above: treat these as a snapshot, not a fixed list.
Technology is the largest sector at roughly 26% of the fund, followed by financials (~19%) and industrials (~11%): a natural result of weighting by company size (market capitalization) rather than picking sectors deliberately.
Two numbers, and which one you actually pay
| XEQT | |
|---|---|
| Management fee | 0.17% per year |
| MER (management fee + operating costs + tax) | 0.19% per year |
| Trading expense ratio | ~0.01% |
| Trading commission (Wealthsimple/Questrade) | $0 |
| Advisor / management fee | None: it's self-directed |
| Rebalancing cost | $0: automatic, built into the fund |
| Distribution frequency | Quarterly |
The two fee numbers answer different questions. The management fee (0.17%) is what BlackRock charges to run the fund, and it already covers the fees of the five ETFs inside it. The MER (0.19%) adds operating costs and sales tax, so it is the closer figure to what you actually pay: about $19 a year per $10,000 invested, deducted inside the fund and reflected in its unit price, never billed separately. If you see 0.20% elsewhere, that is the MER reported before the December 2025 fee cut.
For comparison, the average Canadian equity mutual fund charges somewhere around 2% a year, ten times as much, and most don't outperform their benchmark over 10+ year periods once that fee is accounted for.
BlackRock's own figures, after fees
BlackRock rates XEQT's volatility Medium on its five-step scale (Low to High). As a 100% stock fund it is built for long-term growth, and it moves with global markets in both directions:
| Year | Return |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 11.7% |
| 2021 | 19.6% |
| 2022 | −10.9% |
| 2023 | 17.1% |
| 2024 | 24.7% |
| 2025 | 20.5% |
Annualized to August 31, 2026: 21.82% over three years, 13.14% over five, and 14.65% since the August 2019 launch. Past returns are not a forecast.
Calendar years hide the worst moments. XEQT's worst three months so far returned −16.41% (ending March 31, 2020), even though 2020 finished up 11.7%. A severe bear market can take a 100% stock fund down much further than anything in this table.
These six years were unusually good for stocks, so don't plan on them repeating. The Invest tab projects at 6.5% a year by default, following FP Canada's 2026 planning guidelines, and you can change it.
XEQT is also not currency hedged. About three-quarters of it is invested outside Canada, so its value moves with the Canadian dollar as well as with stock prices: a weaker loonie lifts it, a stronger one drags on it.
The realistic alternatives, side by side
| Option | Annual fee | Effort | Volatility |
|---|---|---|---|
| XEQT (100% equities) | 0.17% | None: automatic | Full market risk |
| VEQT (Vanguard equivalent) | 0.17% | None: automatic | Full market risk |
| XGRO (~80% equities / 20% bonds) | 0.17% | None: automatic | Lower |
| XBAL (~60% equities / 40% bonds) | 0.17% | None: automatic | Lowest of these four |
| Picking individual stocks | $0 MER | High: research + rebalancing | Concentration risk |
| Average active mutual fund | ~2% MER | None | Full market risk |
Fees are management fees, confirmed on each provider's August 2026 fact sheet. All-in MERs run a little higher: 0.18% to 0.19% for the iShares funds, and 0.22% last reported for VEQT, a figure that predates its November 2025 fee cut. XGRO and XBAL trade lower expected long-term returns for smaller peak-to-trough declines: the right choice depends on your time horizon and risk tolerance, not on which one is "better."
Horizon is the input people underestimate. If you want to see how long an all-equity holding needs before it could carry itself with no further contributions, the coast FIRE calculator works that date out from what you have invested today.
Worth being straight about this, since the phrase "just buy XEQT" tends to travel without it: one widely cited Canadian mapping, which is where a lot of the one-ticket advice originates, puts all-equity at a fifteen-year-plus horizon and steps down through the mostly-stock, balanced and mostly-bond versions as the horizon shortens. It starts from a risk questionnaire rather than from a ticker. XEQT is the right answer for a long horizon and a stomach for a large drop, not for every Canadian with a TFSA. The order of operations page puts that decision in its place in the sequence.
The fine print people skip, condensed
For a long-term investor with 10+ years and no need to touch the money sooner, yes: XEQT is a reasonable default that most people would take years of research to meaningfully beat. It won't be the top-performing option every single year, and it will drop hard in bad ones. What it reliably does is remove the two things that actually sink most DIY portfolios: high fees and forgetting to rebalance.
Finance Simulator's Invest tab projects TFSA, RRSP and FHSA growth on your real contribution amount and timeline. Free, no account, nothing sent to a server.
XEQT (iShares Core Equity ETF Portfolio) is an all-equity asset-allocation ETF from BlackRock Canada, launched in August 2019. It holds five underlying iShares ETFs covering the US, Canada, international developed markets and emerging markets, about 8,300 companies in a single ticket that rebalances itself automatically.
XEQT's management fee is 0.17% a year, cut from 0.18% on December 18, 2025. Its MER, the all-in figure that adds operating costs and sales tax to the management fee, is 0.19% in iShares' August 2026 fact sheet. On $10,000 invested that is about $19 a year, taken inside the fund and reflected in its unit price, never billed separately. Some sites still show 0.20%, the MER reported before the fee cut.
XEQT holds five iShares ETFs: two US total-market funds (ITOT and XTOT, about 45% combined), XIC for Canadian stocks (about 25.6%), XEF for international developed markets (about 24.4%) and XEC for emerging markets (about 4.8%). Together they own roughly 8,300 companies. Weights are as of August 31, 2026 and drift slightly between rebalances.
Yes. Its stated objective is long-term capital growth, and it holds 100% stocks with no bonds, which makes it the most growth-oriented of the iShares one-ticket portfolios. XGRO (about 80% stocks) and XBAL (about 60% stocks) give up some expected growth in exchange for smaller drops.
As of August 31, 2026, XEQT has returned 14.65% a year since its August 2019 launch, 13.14% a year over five years and 21.82% a year over three years, after fees. Calendar-year returns ranged from -10.9% in 2022 to 24.7% in 2024. Those years were unusually strong for stocks and are not a forecast: Finance Simulator's projections use 6.5% a year by default, following FP Canada's 2026 planning guidelines.
BlackRock rates XEQT's volatility as Medium on its five-step scale. It is 100% stocks, so it falls with global markets: its worst three months so far returned -16.41% (ending March 31, 2020), and it lost 10.9% in calendar 2022. Future drops can be deeper. Holding about 8,300 companies removes most single-company risk, but not market risk. Investors who want lower volatility typically look at XGRO (about 80% stocks) or XBAL (about 60% stocks).
No. XEQT is unhedged. About three-quarters of the fund is invested outside Canada, so its value moves with foreign currencies as well as with stock prices: a weaker Canadian dollar lifts it and a stronger one drags on it.
Effectively, yes. XEQT itself follows a fixed asset mix rather than a single index, but every fund it holds tracks a broad market index (S&P Total US, S&P/TSX Capped Composite, MSCI EAFE IMI and MSCI Emerging Markets IMI), so what you own is passive, index-tracking exposure.
For a long-term investor who wants broad global exposure without picking individual stocks or rebalancing manually, XEQT is a commonly recommended core holding. It is 100% equities, so it carries full stock market risk and volatility, and it is generally not recommended for money needed within about five years.
Both are all-equity, all-in-one ETFs, and both have charged a 0.17% management fee since their late-2025 fee cuts. VEQT (Vanguard) carries a somewhat larger Canadian weighting than XEQT, while XEQT leans slightly more toward the US. Over long holding periods the practical difference between the two is expected to be small; either is a reasonable choice.
XEQT trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange like a stock, so you buy it through any Canadian brokerage account. Wealthsimple and Questrade both offer $0 commission on ETF purchases, so buying XEQT costs nothing beyond the fund's own 0.19% MER.
There is no right number of shares. The useful number is a dollar amount: decide how much you can invest each month and leave untouched for 10 or more years, then buy as many units as that covers at the current price (about $46 a unit in late September 2026).
Yes. XEQT is a Canadian-listed ETF and is eligible to be held in a TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, or a regular taxable account.
Fund figures on this page come from iShares' XEQT fact sheet (August 31, 2026) and ETF Facts (June 19, 2026); the top-company weights are an August 2026 snapshot. All of them change over time: confirm current figures directly with iShares/BlackRock before acting. This page is educational and is not financial, tax, or legal advice. See the terms of use.