At Spaceship we’re long-term investors, and our Spaceship Voyager portfolios are created with recommended holding periods of 3+ years to help ride out market volatility.
But we also have options for investors who approach things differently.
Here are some common investments investors seek during periods of volatility, and how you can access them at Spaceship if you decide they’re right for you (remember to seek personal financial advice if you’re unsure.)
Bonds
In swinging markets, some investors seek safety in bonds.
What is a bond?
Investors who look for lower risk, defensive options sometimes invest in bonds.
Bonds are loans that investors give institutions such as banks and governments. They can be short- or long-term. In return, the investor receives interest payments as well as their principal back upon maturity. They may also sell the bond before it matures for a market price, which may be higher or lower than what they first paid.
You can invest in bonds via the stock market, but you can also gain exposure through ETFs.
How can you invest in bonds at Spaceship?
At Spaceship, you could gain exposure to bonds through our Spaceship Explorer Portfolio. This portfolio features a selection of seven ETFs, some of which target bonds.
Bonds are included in this portfolio because it’s created for investors who seek a diversified range of investments, conservative capital growth, with a low-to-medium level of volatility, and a three year investment horizon.
Find out more about the Spaceship Explorer Portfolio in the Spaceship app or website, or by viewing the Product Disclosure Statement.
There are also alternative bond ETFs available in the US Investing Service.
ETFs
Investors who want to diversify their portfolios, or gain exposure to broad sections of particular markets, such as gold or precious metals, often choose ETFs.
What is an ETF?
An ETF is an exchange-traded-fund. It’s a collection of stocks that follows a pre-set theme or investment thesis. For example, some ETFs capture the biggest companies in an individual market, while others focus on particular industries.
ETFs are also a way you can access harder-to-hold investments, such as precious metals and gold.
How can you invest in ETFs at Spaceship?
At Spaceship you can gain exposure to a selection of ETFs via our Spaceship Explorer Portfolio, and our Spaceship Galaxy Portfolio.
Our Spaceship Galaxy Portfolio is much like our Spaceship Explorer Portfolio in that it contains a mix of ETFs that target lower-volatility investments such as bonds and cash.
It also features a mix of stocks that meet our ‘Where the World is Going’ criteria, which you may recognise from our Spaceship Universe and Spaceship Earth portfolios.
For example, the Spaceship Galaxy Portfolio includes the Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond Index ETF, which holds thousands of bonds from dozens of countries.
Discover the Spaceship Galaxy Portfolio
What about gold ETFs?
Let’s say you’ve heard that gold is a smart investment for tricky times. The price of gold has tended to spike during periods of economic uncertainty – but that doesn’t mean you want to stash gold bullions in a shoebox under your bed.
Gold ETFs, such as the SPDR Gold ETF, (GLD), reflect the price of gold bullion and make getting exposure to gold as easy as any other ETF investment – if you do your research and decide it’s the right investment for you.
You can search for gold and other individual ETFs in the Spaceship US Investing Service, available in the Spaceship app.
Individual stocks
Some investors take advantage of market swings to buy individual stocks.
What is a stock?
A stock is an amount of ownership you can buy in a particular company. The companies you can buy stocks in are listed on different stock markets. People generally buy stocks because they want to make money from their performance, if they increase in price, or from dividends, which is a share of a company’s earnings that its management can decide to reward its investors with.
How can you invest in stocks at Spaceship?
At Spaceship, you can get exposure to stocks through the Spaceship Voyager portfolios.
The Spaceship Origin Portfolio, for example, is a rules-based portfolio that gives you exposure to around 200 of the biggest stocks in the global stock market, including companies from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Australian stock markets. (Check out the Spaceship Origin map to see its exposure to stocks from all across the world.) These portfolios pool your money with other investors’ to buy bundles of shares at a time.
Discover the Spaceship Origin Portfolio
You can also invest in individual stocks using the Spaceship US Investing Service .
What have Spaceship customers been buying in the downturn?
The past few weeks have been particularly volatile as the new US administration has begun.
During volatile periods, some people decide to sell their investments, and others decide to buy more investments. At Spaceship it’s no different.
So here’s a look at the top ten stocks and ETFs Spaceship customers have been buying in the recent downturn, not including regular investment plan purchases, or Spaceship Voyager portfolio investments.
Top 10 stocks and ETFs bought by Spaceship customers in the past fortnight
VOO - Vanguard S&P 500 ETF
This is an ETF that has exposure to 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the US, including well-established and financially stable companies commonly referred to as ‘blue chips’.
You could invest in this ETF via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app.
NVDA - NVIDIA
This is a stock. When Nvidia invented the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) in 1999 it ended up being a huge deal: first it helped kickstart gaming and revived video graphics, and then it threw fuel on the AI fire: the GPU acts as the brain of digital products, including ChatGPT.
GPUs can process many pixels on a gaming screen rendering pixels in parallel all at once, a transferable technology for crunching large amounts of data – perfect for AI applications.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Earth, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
TSLA - Tesla
This is a stock. Tesla was founded in 2003, with the mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Its products have included electric cars, batteries, and solar energy panels.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Earth, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
SCHD - Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF
This is an ETF. It tracks the Dow Jones US Dividend 100 Index, which gives exposure to around 100 US dividend-paying companies. The ETF focuses on companies with strong financials (compared to peers), with a record of sustaining long-term dividends.
You could invest in this ETF via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app.
SMH - VanEck Semiconductor ETF
This is an ETF. It gives exposure to companies involved in semiconductor production and equipment. Semiconductors are the building blocks of modern technology such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
You could invest in this ETF via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app.
PLTR - Palantir
This is a stock. Palantir is a big data company that helps its customers manage large data sets.
It was founded in 2003, and has worked with government and commercial customers since.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe and Spaceship Origin portfolios.
AMZN - Amazon
This is a stock. Amazon started life in the garage of a rental, when Jeff Bezos used his parents' money to open an online bookstore.
It grew into a business that's sold devices, goods and services through its online store, acCloud offering, and an online streaming platform.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
AAPL - Apple
This is a stock. Apple makes personal electronics and digital products, which it sells through physical and online retailers, including the iTunes Store and App Store.
Apple focused on personal computers and related software, such as the Mac OS, before expanding into more portable devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
GOOG - Alphabet
This is a stock. Alphabet is the holding company that owns Google.
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Now, it's synonymous with digital life.
Google has multiple products with over a billion users such as Google Maps, Google Search, Android and YouTube that have made big impacts on our lives.
Alphabet also has a cloud platform called Google Cloud, and makes other investments across a broad range of industries.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Earth, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
MSFT - Microsoft
This is a stock. Microsoft builds and sells software to people and businesses.
It's broadly organised into software, such as Office 365, Skype, and LinkedIn; cloud services such as Azure; and personal browsing, which includes Bing, Xbox, and other physical products.
You could invest in this stock via the Spaceship US Investing Service in the Spaceship app. You could also gain exposure to it via the Spaceship Universe, Spaceship Earth, Spaceship Origin, and Spaceship Galaxy portfolios.
Keep in mind
It can be easy to get swept up in the excitement of the stock market and make a decision you regret. That’s why we think it’s important to consider strategies such as having an investment plan, doing your research, structuring your portfolio to make sure it suits you, and dollar-cost averaging.
And if you’re unsure what to do, seek personal financial advice from a licensed professional, such as an accountant or financial planner.
Some of the Spaceship Voyager portfolios invest in Nvidia, Palantir, Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla at the time of writing.
Important! We’re sharing with you our thoughts on the companies in which Spaceship Voyager invests for your informational purposes only. We think it’s important (and interesting!) to let you know what’s happening with Spaceship Voyager’s investments. However, we are not making recommendations to buy or sell holdings in a specific company. Past performance isn’t a reliable indicator or guarantee of future performance.
