See what’s inside your ETFs with Sharesight’s exposure report

Get the full picture of your portfolio’s composition with Sharesight’s exposure report. Available to Sharesight users on starter, standard and premium plans, the exposure report shows your portfolio’s exposure to different industries, investment types and sectors by listing your direct stock holdings alongside any stocks held within exchange-traded funds (ETFs). With the ability to clearly see any overlap in your portfolio, it’s now easier than ever to make informed decisions about your portfolio’s composition.

Why you need to know what’s inside your ETFs

When looking to diversify their investments, many investors turn to ETFs because they allow you to invest in a basket of assets by purchasing just one instrument. ETFs are typically designed to track an index or a certain ‘theme’ such as tech stocks, for example. This type of bundled asset also makes it easy to invest in global markets, which is another key reason why investors turn to ETFs as a diversification strategy in their portfolio.

The problem is that there is a lack of transparency around what is inside most ETFs. An ETF may be composed of hundreds, even thousands of individual stocks, with the fund manager rebalancing this composition anywhere from daily to yearly. Often, the fund provider will only show investors a portion of what is inside the ETF, such as the top 10 holdings by weight. While some funds may provide the option to download a full PDF of the ETF’s composition, reviewing and updating these documents for multiple ETFs is a tedious and inefficient process.

ETFs don’t always guarantee diversity in your portfolio

Without a quick and easy way to see what’s inside your ETFs, there is a good chance that there is some overlap in your portfolio — especially if you own multiple ETFs alongside individual stocks. For example, you may find that you hold some of the same stocks across different ETFs, or you hold an individual stock that is also found in one or more of your ETFs. This overlap can dilute diversification and increase concentration risk, undermining the purpose of holding multiple ETFs in the first place.

Why you need Sharesight’s exposure report

By running the exposure report, you can clearly see the breakdown of your portfolio’s composition. The report displays every holding in your portfolio, broken down by its monetary value and weight in your portfolio. It also makes it easy to identify overlap by showing whether your holdings are direct, or part of the underlying assets in one or more ETFs.

In the screenshot example below, you can see that the investor holds Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as a direct stock holding, but also as part of two ETFs. Depending on their investment strategy and diversification goals, the investor may decide to sell off some of their direct shares in Apple if they feel they are overweight in this stock. Alternatively, if an investor notices a significant amount of crossover between the holdings in multiple ETFs, they may also choose to consolidate into fewer funds.

Sharesight’s exposure report shows you the composition of your portfolio, including holdings that you own directly or as part of your ETFs’ underlying holdings.

Managing concentration risk and diversification

A common challenge investors face is unknowingly becoming too concentrated in certain stocks. For this reason, many users of the exposure report set personal thresholds, such as capping any single stock at 5–10% of their portfolio. For example (based on our user feedback), one investor noticed their Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) holding had grown to over 30% of their portfolio and used the report to plan staged reductions back to their target level. Another was surprised to discover CSL (ASX: CSL) was their largest exposure across multiple ETFs, and only after running the report did they consider rebalancing. By making concentration risk visible, the exposure report helps investors avoid overexposure to “magnificent 7” stocks, local banks, or other dominant holdings that could skew performance.

Understanding ETF overlap and true underlying exposure

The exposure report also uncovers hidden overlap between ETFs, helping investors decide whether their mix of funds genuinely adds diversification or simply duplicates holdings. For instance, one investor we spoke to found that two ETFs in their portfolio had more than 70% overlap and chose to sell the higher-fee option. Another avoided buying a new thematic ETF altogether after realising they already had heavy exposure to the same stocks through other funds. For investors with both ETFs and direct holdings, the report highlights where an individual stock (such as CBA or Apple) is “double counted” across multiple sources, making it easier to manage and simplify portfolios.

Gaining clarity on regional, sector, and currency exposure

Beyond stocks and ETFs, the exposure report gives investors a clear view of their geographic, sector and currency allocations. Many investors are surprised at how much of their portfolio is concentrated in US markets via global ETFs, while others use the report to avoid overexposure to Australian banks or to rebalance toward underrepresented regions. It also helps highlight sector tilts, such as large tech weightings, which some investors actively cap. On a broader level, the report even reveals hidden risks like currency exposure. For example, one investor we spoke to discovered that over 25% of their retirement savings were exposed to USD, a potential risk to their long-term plan given concerns about future US debt. This clarity allows investors to make more deliberate decisions about where to allocate new funds and how to better align portfolios with long-term objectives.

By giving you the ability to clearly see any overlap in your portfolio, the exposure report helps you make informed investing decisions with confidence. Together with Sharesight’s diversity and contribution analysis reports, plus a range of other powerful performance and tax reports, the exposure report is an indispensable tool for investors seeking to rebalance effectively, maintain diversification and stay aligned with their strategy.

Other key features

• The report shows you the top holdings (by weight) in each of your ETFs, with the option to display up to 500 holdings. The remainder of the holdings in these ETFs is categorised under “Residual ETFs” at the bottom of the report, as shown in the example below:

• You can organise your holdings by the grouping of your choice, including market, currency, sector, industry, investment type, country or no grouping.
• There is an ‘Edit table’ button that allows you to choose which columns are displayed in the report.
• You have the ability to export the report to a PDF or XLSX format, and you can also choose which columns are shown in the downloaded report.
• Data for the holdings in your report is updated daily.

Want to know more about the exposure report?

For a more in-depth look at the exposure report, see our instructional video here:

Make smarter investing decisions with Sharesight

Join hundreds of thousands of investors around the world using Sharesight to automatically track their investment performance and tax, and make smarter investing decisions. With Sharesight you can:

• Track all of your investments in one place, including stocks, ETFs, mutual/managed funds, property and even cryptocurrency
• Automatically track your dividend and distribution income from stocks, ETFs and mutual/managed funds
• Run powerful reports built for investors, including performance, diversity, contribution analysis, future income, risk, multi-period and multi-currency valuation
• See the true picture of your investment performance, including the impact of brokerage fees, dividends, and capital gains with Sharesight’s annualised performance calculation methodology

Sign up for a FREE Sharesight account to get started tracking your investment portfolio today.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a specific product recommendation, or taxation or financial advice and should not be relied upon as such. While we use reasonable endeavours to keep the information up-to-date, we make no representation that any information is accurate or up-to-date. If you choose to make use of the content in this article, you do so at your own risk. To the extent permitted by law, we do not assume any responsibility or liability arising from or connected with your use or reliance on the content on our site. Please check with your adviser or accountant to obtain the correct advice for your situation.

FURTHER READING

• How to track exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
• Calculate portfolio risk with Sharesight's risk reporting tool
• 4 ways to be a prepared investor this year