We think the Vanguard Australian Government Bond Index ETF (ASX: VGB) and VanEck Vectors Emerging Income Opportunities Active ETF (Managed Fund) ETF (ASX: EBND) ASX ETFs could be worthy of closer inspection. Here’s why…
1. The Vanguard VGB ETF (ASX:VGB) ETF
The Vanguard VGB ETF provides investors with exposure to a portfolio of Australian Commonwealth Government bonds, state government bonds and bonds from treasury corporations.
According to our most recent data, the VGB ETF had $546.16 million of money invested. With VGB’s total funds under management (FUM) figure over $100 million, the ETF meets our team’s minimum investment criteria for FUM levels. As a general rule, our team draws the line at $100 million for ETFs in the Fixed interest – Australia sector because we believe that, relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM lowers the chance that the ETF issuer will close the ETF.
Fees to consider
According to our numbers, the annual management fee on the VGB ETF is 0.20%. The issuer, Vanguard, collects this fee automatically.
Meaning, if you invested $2,000 in the VGB ETF for a full year you could expect to pay management fees of around $4.00. This fee is different from the fee you pay to your brokerage provider (e.g. CommSec, NabTrade, SelfWealth, etc.), which is the fee to buy or sell the ETF. In addition to a management fee charged by the issuer, be mindful to check the ‘spread‘ for the ETF.
A fee comparison
Fees aren’t the only key consideration for ETF investors, but it’s an easy thing to do. To understand if the ETF you’re looking at is too costly, compare it with other ETFs from the same sector, and against the industry average. For example, the average management fee (MER) across all of the ETFs covered by the Best ETFs Australia team was 0.51%, which is $10.20 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind that small changes in the fees paid can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years. You should read the VGB Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), available on the ETF issuer’s website, because it will detail the fees, tax implications and the latest information.
Want to hear more about the VGB ETF? View our free investment review.
2. The VanEck EBND ETF (ASX:EBND) ETF
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.
With our numbers for July 2021, EBND’s FUM stood at $93.29 million. Given it has less than $100 million invested, ask yourself (or your adviser) if the ETF is still too small (and if you should wait to buy into it). If you’re concerned the ETF might not be established enough, compare it alongside one of the other Active ETF (e.g. ETMF) sector ETFs, using our full list of ETFs.
Are the fees for the EBND ETF bad?
VanEck, the ETF issuer, charges a yearly management fee of 0.95% for the EBND ETF. Meaning, if you invested $2,000 for a full 12-month period you could expect to pay a base management fee of around $19.00.
The management fee is above the average for all ETFs on our list of ASX ETFs, but keep in mind the ETF may be able to justify the higher price tag with superior performance over time.
Want to know more? Get our team’s free EBND ETF review. Simply click here now.
[ls_content_block id=”4954″ para=”paragraphs”]
