Opinions Richard Orrell
Vanguard Growth ETF PortfolioVGRO.TOBUYAug 14, 2026
Richard OrrellStock price when the opinion was issued
As of Aug 14, 2026. Market Open.
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80% equity, 20% fixed income. Great for the average investor. The one you want when you're bullish on equities. When you're defensive, you go into the balanced or conservative version which brings you down to 60/40 or 40/60 equities to bonds.
Right now, way too early to be bullish on equities. At some point in the next 6 months (ballpark: below 5000 on the S&P 500, and maybe even below 4500), it will be time to be much more growth oriented. Now is not the time.
VGRO and XGRO are going to give you broad, market-cap-weighted exposures.
The Fidelity factor-investing ETFs are going to get rid of some of the companies that they believe are going to underperform. In theory, the Fidelity ETF should give you a better longer-term outcome. He likes factoring a lot.
The problem with all of them is the bond side. Helpful that interest rates have normalized. But, going forward, fixed income is just not going to give the average investor the best risk mitigation. He encourages people to look at the BMO line of buffered ETFs, which give you the potential of equities with the risk mitigation that most are looking for.
Investing time horizon is long, 10 years in this case. So that lets you take on a bit more risk. Though you'll find 10-year timeframes in the equity market that have delivered losses, that makes the balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so important.
If you don't want fluctuations at all, there's always cash or a money market fund. But for this time horizon, consider using an ETF with growth potential. For a conservative investor, think about VGRO or VBAL. VGRO is more aggressive, at 80 stocks/20 bonds. VBAL is more balanced at 60/40.
VCNS is for the very conservative, mostly bonds with a bit of equity. It will still grow over time because of the equity allocation, but will be more stable. You could even mix in more bonds yourself. Consider working with a professional on this for a diversified portfolio.
Terry Shaunessy
This question really goes to timeline and the age of the beneficiary. If you need the $$ back in a year, he's taking no risk and basically putting it under the mattress ;) For 1-2 years, he'd put it in very safe fixed income. For 3 years, starting to get into balanced growth (perhaps 60/40).
Anything beyond 3-5 years, he's looking at a lot of equity in a portfolio. And usually with RESPs, you're contributing along the way. Look at a single-fund solution like VEQT (100 equity), then move to VGRO (80/20), and finally VBAL (60/40).
RESPs are really about saving, and continuing to save. You know how much you think you might need ($20-24k a year), and you just have to get yourself there.