Do you want a ready-made, globally diversified portfolio without the high costs of traditional wealth management? The iShares Portfolio ETF range brings actively managed portfolios to Kvarn X, with allocation and rebalancing handled for you. Choose from three risk levels and build a clear foundation for your investments with a single trade.
This content has been produced by Kvarn Investment Services Oy, a licensed investment firm supervised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority. The content is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice or recommendation. All investing involves risks, and past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
You want a globally diversified portfolio with a single trade, value an active allocation view, but do not want to pay the typical 1.0–1.5% annual fee of traditional wealth management. Three risk levels are available. Management fee: 0.25% p.a.
WHO IS THIS NOT FOR?
This is not for you if you want to decide the allocation yourself and rebalance manually. A passive ETF portfolio will be cheaper, with a TER of 0.05–0.20%. If, on the other hand, you are looking for personal advice and a tailored portfolio, traditional wealth management is likely the better option.
Kvarn X has added the iShares Portfolio ETF range to its selection. The range consists of three actively managed ETFs with a management fee of 0.25% per year. It brings a globally diversified, actively managed multi-asset portfolio into an exchange-traded format. Internationally, this product category is one of the most interesting of the 2020s, but in Finland it has barely been marketed.
There are three options: conservative (MACV), balanced (MODR) and growth-oriented (MAGR). All have a TER of 0.25% p.a., roughly one fifth of the typical 1.0–1.5% level of traditional wealth management.
ETFs are usually seen as passive index trackers: they follow a predefined index, such as the S&P 500 or MSCI World. In that case, the fund’s holdings and weights are determined by the index.
An active ETF works differently. The portfolio management team makes the investment decisions: what to own, at what weights and when to make changes. The fund therefore does not track any single index. It is managed actively according to market conditions.
In the iShares Portfolio ETF range, this is visible in practice in three ways:
The combination is close to an index ETF in terms of cost and close to a traditional wealth management model portfolio in terms of content.
The ETF structure brings daily exchange liquidity, transparency and a low minimum investment. Active management, in turn, means that allocation decisions are made for you and the portfolio is kept up to date.
A globally diversified portfolio can be built in many ways. Investors can make the allocation decisions themselves using ETFs, outsource them to a traditional wealth manager, or choose an actively managed wealth management ETF where portfolio management is packaged into an exchange-traded fund.
They differ in terms of allocation decisions and costs.
Put simply, an active wealth management ETF is not the cheapest option. A passive ETF portfolio is still cheaper if the investor makes the allocation and rebalancing decisions themselves.
The value comes from saving time and outsourcing the allocation view to a portfolio management team at a fraction of the cost of traditional wealth management.
The range has deliberately been kept compact. Three risk levels are enough to cover the most common investor needs.
All three are UCITS funds, euro-denominated and accumulating share classes (Acc), meaning returns are automatically reinvested in the fund. The structural details are summarised below:
The sizes of the funds vary: MACV is the smallest of the three and MAGR the largest. In addition to the platform level, investors should assess which risk level is suitable for them before making an investment decision and read the official key information documents (PRIIPs KID) for each fund.
The historical performance of the funds illustrates the differences between the risk levels in practice. Over the period reviewed, the growth-oriented MAGR has risen clearly the most, the balanced MODR more moderately and the conservative MACV the least. This is logical, because the higher the equity weighting in a fund, the more it typically participates in equity market gains, but also in declines. For that reason, higher historical returns alone do not make an option better. They mainly indicate that the investor has taken on greater market risk.
iShares Conservative Portfolio UCITS ETF, or MACV, is the most fixed-income-heavy ETF in the range. Equities account for around 26%, fixed income around 64%, and cash and other instruments around 10%. The core of the portfolio consists of government and corporate bonds, with equities complementing the overall allocation.
MAY BE SUITABLE FOR YOU IF
Updated 22 April 2026
iShares Moderate Portfolio UCITS ETF, or MODR, combines equities and fixed income in an almost even split. Equities account for around 47% and fixed income around 51%. This is a classic balanced allocation in ETF form.
MAY BE SUITABLE FOR YOU IF
Updated 22 April 2026
iShares Growth Portfolio UCITS ETF, or MAGR, is the most growth-oriented ETF in the range. Equities account for around 85% and fixed income around 13%. Global diversification is built through different geographic regions.
MAY BE SUITABLE FOR YOU IF
Updated 22 April 2026
According to iShares’ product pages, at least 80% of the investments in all three funds meet ESG criteria. ESG is not a separate investment theme, but part of the portfolio structure. In practice, this can be seen in the funds using, for example, MSCI USA ESG Enhanced and EUR Corporate Bond ESG ETFs as part of the overall portfolio.
Rebalancing is a central part of active management. Market movements change portfolio weights over time, which may cause the risk level to deviate from the original target. In these funds, this is corrected automatically: the portfolio is rebalanced back to its target level as part of the product structure.
For the investor, this means the portfolio remains aligned with its risk profile without separate action. It also saves time and trading costs that manual rebalancing would typically cause.
Although the structure of active wealth management ETFs is simple, the risks do not disappear. The key risks include:
Market risk. Both equity and fixed-income investments can fall in value. The equity-weighted MAGR moves more strongly with the market than MACV.
Currency risk. The fund’s base currency is the euro, but the portfolio contains significant USD-denominated equity and fixed-income positions. Currency fluctuations affect euro-denominated returns, as the funds are not currency hedged in their base share classes.
Interest rate risk. The value of fixed-income investments falls if market interest rates rise. The effect is strongest in MACV, where the fixed-income allocation is highest.
Active management risk. The portfolio management team’s decisions may lead to weaker returns than a passive allocation over certain periods. Active management does not guarantee outperformance.
Fund size risk. Smaller funds may have weaker liquidity, and the difference between the exchange price and net asset value may be larger than usual.
If an active wealth management ETF could fit into your own investment plan, getting started is straightforward.
The first step is choosing the risk level. The three options cover the most common needs: conservative, balanced and growth-oriented. In practice, the choice determines how much of the portfolio is allocated to equities and how much to fixed income.
After that, it is worth reading the fund’s key information document (PRIIPs KID), which summarises the product’s objectives, risks and costs. The document is available directly from the fund’s product page.
Once the risk level has been selected and the overall structure understood, trading takes place in Kvarn X in the same way as with other exchange-traded products.
An active wealth management ETF combines two worlds: active portfolio management and the ETF structure. The result is a ready-made, globally diversified portfolio that is managed actively but at clearly lower costs than traditional wealth management.
The iShares Portfolio ETF range has a management fee of 0.25% per year. That is roughly one fifth of the cost of traditional wealth management, but higher than a portfolio built solely from passive ETFs.
The three options make the choice straightforward. MACV is suited to conservative use, MODR to a balanced overall allocation and MAGR to investors seeking growth and accepting higher value fluctuations as part of the return potential.
The information and sources presented are for illustrative purposes only. While obtained from sources deemed reliable, their accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
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