For many investors, the 24-hour news cycle brings near-constant reasons to wonder about the state of their portfolio.
As the U.S. war with Iran and the associated disputes over the Strait of Hormuz drag into their third month, for instance, you may be wondering about your exposure to oil producers or multinationals that operate in the Middle East.
And even if the headlines get you excited about buying new investments — maybe you’re stoked about advances in AI or SpaceX’s upcoming IPO — you’d probably still be smart to look under the hood of anything you’re hoping to buy as well as your own holdings to make sure that they fit within your broader portfolio strategy, investing experts say.
“Before buying any [exchange-traded fund], it’s worth seeing what its top holdings are,” says Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at investment research firm TMX VettaFi. “Then you’ll want to compare it to what you already own.”
Here’s what he and other market pros say to look for.
How to find out what stocks you own
If you own a portfolio of mutual funds or ETFs, you may have exposure to hundreds or even thousands of individual stocks. That’s generally a good thing, financial experts say. By spreading your bets across a wide variety of investments, the general thinking goes, you lower the chances that a decline in any one asset could tank your portfolio’s overall performance.
But there are reasons you may want to get granular when it comes to what you hold, says Zachary Evens, a manager research analyst at Morningstar. If you’re worried about geopolitical events, for instance, you may want to know how exposed you are to foreign stocks, he says. Or maybe you want to know just how much of your portfolio is concentrated in a particular sector.
Evens recommends investors talk to their financial advisors first, but “if they’re uncomfortable with that exposure, then they might want to consider rebalancing into something a little bit more diversified,” he says.
For any particular fund you own, you can search on free websites such as Morningstar and ETF.com to find sector and country breakdowns. You can also likely find a breakdown across all of the funds you own through your online brokerage.
If you want to know exactly which stocks you own, mutual fund and ETF websites regularly post full fund portfolios. ETF rosters are typically updated daily, while mutual funds may only post holdings monthly or quarterly.
“There’s going to be a lag to [mutual fund] data,” says Rosenbluth. “So that fund may have held something for longer than you appreciated.”
One reason you may want to go stock-by-stock is to figure out whether you own stocks you may find objectionable. The outbreak of war, for instance, may have you thinking that you no longer want to own and profit from the stocks of weapons manufacturers.
Depending on what you’re interested in weeding out, you can sort through a fund’s holdings yourself or use free online tools, such as the Invest Your Values tool from sustainable investing research firm As You Sow, which grades funds’ portfolios on factors such as fossil fuel exposure, gender equality and investment in tobacco firms.
What to check when adding a new investment
If you’re planning on adding a new stock or ETF to your portfolio, it’s worth checking what you already hold to make sure your new investment is going to fit into your strategy the way you want it to, investing experts say. Depending on the funds you’re invested in, that new investment may be duplicative of what you already own.
“An investor should consider their existing allocation before adding something else. They might not want the overlap, but also maybe they do want the overlap because they really believe in those companies,” says Evens. “An investor, with the help of their advisor, should think about what they want in that exposure and what types of companies they want to target.”
Here’s an example of what he means. Say you want to tilt your portfolio toward AI and plan on adding an ETF focused on artificial intelligence companies. First, look into the portfolios of ETFs you’re considering. One AI ETF, you may find, holds mega-sized firms such as Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet. Another may hold smaller firms that focus purely on AI.
Next, look at your portfolio, which might be invested in a broad U.S. stock market ETF tracking the S&P 500. Three of the top-five holdings in the fund are Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet.
Now you have an informed choice you can discuss with your advisor, says Rosenbluth. With the mega-sized AI ETF, “you know that you’re doubling down on your exposure to those companies,” he says. With the other, “you’re getting exposure to smaller companies that you wouldn’t as easily had within your portfolio.”
The same thought process could be repeated if you wanted to add an individual stock that you may already own in one or more funds, says Evens.
“It should be handled on a case-by-case basis, with conversations that are the start of, what do you want out of this allocation? And then, how can it fit into your existing strategy?” Evens says.
Want to get ahead at work? Then you need to learn how to make effective small talk. In CNBC’s new online course, How To Talk To People At Work, expert instructors share practical strategies to help you use everyday conversations to gain visibility, build meaningful relationships and accelerate your career growth. Sign up today! Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for 20% off. Offer valid from April 20, 2026 to May 4, 2026. Terms apply.
