Investing your money to get exposure to the International shares sector has never been easier thanks to ASX ETFs like the Vanguard MSCI International Small Companies Index ETF (ASX: VISM). Before you make an investment, we think it’s important to do your own ETF review. So, here are three tips to get the ball rolling.
1. Find out what the VISM ETF invests in
The Vanguard VISM ETF provides investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of small-cap companies from developed countries around the world, excluding Australia.
2. Has the ETF reached scale?
The Vanguard VISM ETF had $32.93 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. 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). This is because if an ETF is too small, it may not be sustainable for an ETF issuer/provider, such as Vanguard, to continue to operate it.
That said, there are exceptions to this rule of thumb, especially if the ETF issuer is committed to growing the ETF’s FUM to the point where it becomes profitable.
3. Watch the fees (and other costs)
Vanguard charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.32% for the VISM ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in VISM for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $6.40.
For context, the average management fee (MER) of all ETFs covered by Best ETFs Australia on our complete list of ASX ETFs is 0.51% or around $10.20 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind, small changes in fees can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years.
Where to from here in 2020?
So there you have it, three tips to weigh up the VISM ETF. Before you go any further, take a look at our Vanguard VISM report – it’s free. Then, to make sure you’ve covered all bases, don’t forget to search our complete list of ASX ETFs to compare your options. You can filter the search results according to sector, issuer, size and more.
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