The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that a financial adviser can put together a well-diversified portfolio tailored to a client's needs. Guest columnist Gordon Pape writes that doing it yourself can be a challenge, and what you invest in depends how much diversification you want and your risk tolerance. If you want an all-stock portfolio, you could limit yourself to a single exchange-traded fund that invests in markets around the globe. Other companies offer global funds, sometimes excluding Canada. An example is the iShares Core MSCI All Country World Ex Canada ETF (XAW). It is a fund of funds that has better geographic balance than Bank of Montreal's BMO MSCI All Country World High Quality Index ETF (ZGQ), but its record is unimpressive. Mr. Pape said he could not find a single fund that diversified to his liking. He suggests a portfolio needs a minimum of three. One should track the TSX Composite Index, while the other two should cover the S&P 500 and EAFE (Europe, Australasia and the Far East). If you want more stock diversification, consider adding an emerging markets fund and a small-cap ETF such as the iShares U.S. Small Cap Index ETF (XSU). One or two bond ETFs would reduce overall risk.