What are the general recommendations for fund allocations on any non-big 3 providers?

[Mirei]

Assuming I don't go with the big 3 (SBI, Rakuten, Monex), so eMaxis, SBI, Rakuten All World are all out of the option.

I'm definitely not so knowledgeable on this field, so I'm currently only looking at International Funds category with the lowest fee (it could be totally wrong!). Let's take this one for example: 三井住友銀行（標準コース）. Is there anywhere (or even necessary) to see any of the provider's funds performance history?

Would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you!

[zeroshiki]

There's some SMBC DC funds there that take the same fees as emaxis or SBI so those are interesting. The bad news is that they're barely a year old so we don't know about performance. You can click on it and it should tell you the performance.

[Established]

Tawara-No load funds are pretty decent.

https://finance.yahoo.co.jp/quote/4731B15C

[adamu]

Depends what your objectives are.

If I were doing it, I'd pick the lowest cost options necessary to simulate a global fund. For Mitsui, that looks like 2 of their DC index funds: 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド which is world ex Japan (erroneously listed as a developed country fund on DC nenkin?) and 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・日本株インデックスファンド for Japan.

But it's worth saying there's a reason the big three are the big three. With investing for the long term, keeping the costs down is vital. The good funds that do that are only available at the big online brokers.

Recently, others have started to fall in line with copycat funds, but it's still likely to be eMaxis slim that are leading the low fee trend for the next few years (my crystal ball is pretty cloudy though )

I'm interested to see how the Tarawa no load funds work out too, especially the new global one that's doesn't have a billion yen of assets yet (compared to eMaxis slim's 250 billion).

Is there anywhere (or even necessary) to see any of the provider's funds performance history?

You can search for the fund name, and there are usually downloadable PDFs of the prospectus and a monthly report with performance data.

[Mirei]

Thanks everyone for your response!

Depends what your objectives are.

If I were doing it, I'd pick the lowest cost options necessary to simulate a global fund. For Mitsui, that looks like 2 of their DC index funds: 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド which is world ex Japan (erroneously listed as a developed country fund on DC nenkin?) and 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・日本株インデックスファンド for Japan.

But it's worth saying there's a reason the big three are the big three. With investing for the long term, keeping the costs down is vital. The good funds that do that are only available at the big online brokers.

Recently, others have started to fall in line with copycat funds, but it's still likely to be eMaxis slim that are leading the low fee trend for the next few years (my crystal ball is pretty cloudy though )

I'm interested to see how the Tarawa no load funds work out too, especially the new global one that's doesn't have a billion yen of assets yet (compared to eMaxis slim's 250 billion).

Is there anywhere (or even necessary) to see any of the provider's funds performance history?

You can search for the fund name, and there are usually downloadable PDFs of the prospectus and a monthly report with performance data.

Would that mean 50% into each Domestic & Overseas is recommended? (Sorry again, new to this!)

I don't really consider myself to be a power user on this field, so set-and-forget type of funds would probably let me live in peace.
Plus, my Tsumitate NISA account is on process, so that would be another portfolio, if that matters in deciding allocation types for iDeco.

Is it considered risky to take on something relatively new with minimal performance history but with lower fee?
Not really sure if a 0.1% comparison or any fees above 0.5% makes a major difference for long-term.
i.e. [2020] 0.09680%ＳＭＢＣ・ＤＣインデックスファンド（Ｓ＆Ｐ５００）vs. the long established [2011] 0.27500% 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド.

[zeroshiki]

Thanks everyone for your response!

Depends what your objectives are.

If I were doing it, I'd pick the lowest cost options necessary to simulate a global fund. For Mitsui, that looks like 2 of their DC index funds: 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド which is world ex Japan (erroneously listed as a developed country fund on DC nenkin?) and 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・日本株インデックスファンド for Japan.

But it's worth saying there's a reason the big three are the big three. With investing for the long term, keeping the costs down is vital. The good funds that do that are only available at the big online brokers.

Recently, others have started to fall in line with copycat funds, but it's still likely to be eMaxis slim that are leading the low fee trend for the next few years (my crystal ball is pretty cloudy though )

I'm interested to see how the Tarawa no load funds work out too, especially the new global one that's doesn't have a billion yen of assets yet (compared to eMaxis slim's 250 billion).

Is there anywhere (or even necessary) to see any of the provider's funds performance history?

You can search for the fund name, and there are usually downloadable PDFs of the prospectus and a monthly report with performance data.

Would that mean 50% into each Domestic & Overseas is recommended? (Sorry again, new to this!)

I don't really consider myself to be a power user on this field, so set-and-forget type of funds would probably let me live in peace.
Plus, my Tsumitate NISA account is on process, so that would be another portfolio, if that matters in deciding allocation types for iDeco.

Is it considered risky to take on something relatively new with minimal performance history but with lower fee?
Not really sure if a 0.1% comparison or any fees above 0.5% makes a major difference for long-term.
i.e. [2020] 0.09680%ＳＭＢＣ・ＤＣインデックスファンド（Ｓ＆Ｐ５００）vs. the long established [2011] 0.27500% 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド.

I definitely understand your dilemma. The danger of funds that don't have much history is their fees might be low but their performance might be poor and deviate from the index which might cost you money in the long run. If you literally don't want to look at your iDeCo again until retirement, I'd choose the fund with the history. If you're ok to check-in on performance maybe once a year then rebalance, I'd do the SMBC DC funds since the low fees are very enticing.

Note, the example funds you gave actually track difference indices (S&P500 for MSWI Kokusai)

[adamu]

Would that mean 50% into each Domestic & Overseas is recommended? (Sorry again, new to this!)

Again, it depends on your strategy. Japan is about 6% of the world market right now (PDF), but it varies. The benefit of a single-fund solution like eMaxis Slim All Country is that it handles the Japan-weighting automatically.

If going for a two-fund solution, you could set Japan at 6% (or 5% or 10% for simplicity).

[2020] 0.09680%ＳＭＢＣ・ＤＣインデックスファンド（Ｓ＆Ｐ５００）vs. the long established [2011] 0.27500% 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド.

The S&P Fund represents the top 500 US companies.
The All Kaigai fund represents every large and medium company in the world (except for Japanese companies).

Those are pretty different funds, so you can't really compare them without considering the underlying assets.

It's also worth noting that the funds are called "DC" and "DC Tsumitate NISA" - aka they are specifically designed for iDeCo and NISA - aka they are only being competitive because they want your custom - these funds are not available outside of those platforms. That's another reason to favour the big brokers - they can offer the genuinely good value funds, not the funds that are begrudgingly provided to keep their platform competitive.

[fools_gold]

Is it considered risky to take on something relatively new with minimal performance history but with lower fee?
Not really sure if a 0.1% comparison or any fees above 0.5% makes a major difference for long-term.
i.e. [2020] 0.09680%ＳＭＢＣ・ＤＣインデックスファンド（Ｓ＆Ｐ５００）vs. the long established [2011] 0.27500% 三井住友・ＤＣつみたてＮＩＳＡ・全海外株インデックスファンド.

Typically "new" funds aren't really new. Most Japanese asset management companies use a family fund system. There's one big pot, the mother fund, with a series of baby funds. Even if you buy into a new fund, the money goes into the same pot. You can find details of the size of the mother fund in the detailed prospectus on the asset management company's home page. https://www.smd-am.co.jp/fund/

For example, the older eMaxis series of funds have the same mother fund as the newer, lower fee, eMaxisSlim funds.

[beanhead]

Recommendation: go with one of the big three rather than your bank. Or even Matsui. They seem pretty good as well.
Reasons: more choices, and usually more options at lower fees.

[adamu]

Recommendation: go with one of the big three

Pretty sure the question is what to do given this is not the case!