The ASX ETF market seems to be growing faster by the day, and one of the ETFs that you might be considering is the VanEck Vectors Emerging Income Opportunities Active ETF (Managed Fund) ETF (ASX: EBND). In this article, we’ll provide a brief review of the EBND ETF.
1. Simple exposure
The VanEck EBND ETF is an actively-managed ETF which provides investors with exposure to a portfolio of bonds and currencies from a range of emerging markets.
2. Funds Under Management (FUM)
As at the end of last month, the EBND ETF had $10.62 million of money invested. With a funds under management (FUM) or ‘market cap’ figure of less than $100 million, it’s important to consider if this ETF is still too small. We say an ETF with more than $100 million invested is typically more sustainable than one with less than $100 million (at least) because if an ETF is too small it may not be sustainable for an ETF issuer, such as VanEck. However, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb, especially if the ETF issuer/provider is committed to growing the ETF’s FUM to the point where it becomes profitable.
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3. Fees & costs matter
With a yearly management fee of 0.95% charged by VanEck, if you invested $2,000 in the EBND ETF for a full year you could expect to pay management fees of around $19.00. This does not include any performance fees earned by the ETF’s manager for doing a good job. For context, the average management fee (MER) of all ETFs covered by Best ETFs Australia on our complete list of ASX ETFs is 0.54% or around $10.80 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind, small changes in fees can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years.
In addition to a yearly management fee, there are other costs investors must consider, including brokerage and taxes. A specific cost for ETF and mFund investors to consider is the buy-sell spread, which is the slippage or ‘invisible’ cost paid by an investor when he or she buys or sells the ETF. For the EBND ETF, the most recent average monthly buy-sell spread we gathered (April 2020) was 1.85%. Remember, the lower (or ‘tighter’) the buy-sell spread, the better. This buy-sell spread was above the average ETF spread of 0.51%, which means the EBND ETF has more slippage than the average ETF (that’s a bad thing).
Next steps
These are just some of the considerations or factors you would need to look at when weighing up the EBND ETF. Before doing anything, take a look at our VanEck EBND report – it’s free. While you’re at it, don’t forget to search our complete list of ASX ETFs.
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