You might be sitting back and considering the Vanguard International Fixed Interest Index (Hedged) ETF (ASX: VIF) and thinking that April could be as good of a time as any to take closer look. Here’s how we would start our research.
Find out what the ETF does
The Vanguard VIF ETF provides investors with exposure to high-quality securities issued by governments from around the world.
VIF could be used by investors looking to build out the core of a diversified portfolio, or those looking to gain access to international credit markets. It may also be used by investors looking to establish a regular income stream from the ETF’s distributions.
VIF’s FUM meets our hurdle
The Vanguard VIF ETF had $654.34 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given VIF’s total funds under management (FUM) figure is over $100 million, the ETF has met our minimum criteria for the total amount of money invested, otherwise known as FUM. We draw the line at $100 million for ETFs in the Fixed interest – International sector because we believe that relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM de-risks the ETF.
Pay attention to yearly costs & fees
Vanguard charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.20% for the VIF ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in VIF for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $4.00.
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.
Our takeaway
If you’re thinking about investing in VIF, bear in mind that this is just an introductory glance at the ETF. To explore further, check out our free Vanguard VIF report. And for good measure, search our complete list of ASX ETFs for similar ETFs in the Fixed interest – International sector to do a good comparison.
