Invest in Australia's top 20

Learn more about a simple way to get share market exposure to the 20 largest companies on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Ways to invest in shares

If you want to invest in shares, you can choose to buy the shares yourself using a broker, or invest in a managed fund where a fund manager invests in and manages a portfolio of Australian shares. You can buy a passive exchange-traded fund (ETF), or index fund that seeks to replicate the share market’s performance, or an actively managed share fund that aims to beat this performance.

Each approach has its drawbacks

Buying your own shares puts the onus on you to select the shares, which you may not have the expertise – or time – to do. Using an actively managed share fund means taking the risk that the fund manager fails to beat the market performance. Using a passive fund means that you are likely to own a mix of shares that track the performance of a particular market or index, which will include both the bad performers in the market as well as the good performers.

Add to this the fact that in a managed fund, you don’t have a beneficial interest in any particular shares. Rather, as an investor in the fund, you are issued units that give you a fixed beneficial interest in the assets of the whole fund. Managed funds operate as a pooled fund and so the shares are pooled together and as they are bought and sold and realised, capital gains and losses are shared with all those who hold units in the fund.

This means that the tax consequences when the fund sells shares may become your consequences: you may effectively inherit a proportion of capital gains arising from the activity of other investors when they withdraw their investment.

It can be a dilemma for investors, but a modern solution is a managed portfolio.

Managed Portfolios as a modern solution

In a BT Managed Portfolio, you are the beneficial owner of the shares in your portfolio, and any capital gains will specifically relate to your activity.

The BT S&P/ASX 20 Shares Portfolio is a simple way to get share market exposure to the 20 largest companies on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), by market capitalisation. This diversifies you across a range of industries such as banking, insurance, biotech, mining and petroleum, packaging, retailing and infrastructure, with both domestic and global revenue streams. With a minimum investment of $5,000*, getting started is easy.

The BT S&P/ASX 20 Shares Portfolio aims to deliver similar returns to the S&P/ASX 20 Index before fees.

The S&P/ASX 20 Index covers almost half of the market capitalisation of the Australian share market. This means this managed portfolio option can be used to provide cost effective, passive exposure to the Australian share market.

Use in conjunction with other investments

The BT S&P/ASX 20 Shares Portfolio may also be used in conjunction with other investments, for example to:

  • Build a diversified portfolio, with investments in other asset classes sitting alongside the BT S&P/ASX 20 Shares Portfolio 
  • Aim to outperform the S&P/ASX 20 index by investing in active fund managers or particular shares you select alongside the core index exposure gained through the BT S&P/ASX 20 Shares Portfolio.

Looking for more information about managed portfolios? With BT Invest, you can access intelligent technology, tools and reports to help you invest no matter your level of experience or wealth. Find out more.

Find the support, product disclosure statements, and forms you need to grow and manage your BT investments.

For help changing contact details, establishing a regular investment plan, using Bpay, providing a TFN and much more. 

Prices and performance information for BT financial products - unit prices, distributions, management costs and fund performance.

* Additional administration and broker fees apply. Please refer to the BT Managed Portfolios product disclosure statement for risks associated with small balance portfolios.

This information does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and so you should consider its appropriateness, having regard to your personal objectives, financial situation and needs having regard to these factors before acting on it.


BT Portfolio Services Ltd ABN 73 095 055 208 AFSL 233715 (BTPS) operates BT Invest. Westpac Financial Services Ltd ABN 20 000 241 127 AFSL 233716 (WFSL) is the responsible entity and issuer of interests in BT Managed Portfolios. Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714 (Westpac) is the issuer of the BT Invest Cash Management Account (BT Invest CMA). Together, these products are referred to as the BT Invest products. A Product Disclosure Statement or other disclosure document (PDS) for the BT Invest products can be obtained by contacting BT on 1300 881 716 or by clicking here. You should obtain and consider the relevant PDS before deciding whether to acquire, continue to hold or dispose of interests in the BT Invest products.