How the VAS ETF fits into an ASX portfolio
The Vanguard VAS ETF provides exposure to the largest 300 Australian shares, based on market capitalisation. This is a low-cost way to access top Australian companies through a single fund.
The VAS ETF could be used by investors to get exposure to a broad basket of Australia’s largest public companies, which are likely to grow their profit over time and pay regular tax-effective dividends to their shareholders.
VAS meets our minimum level for FUM
The Vanguard VAS ETF had $11009.7 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given VAS’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 Australian shares sector because we believe that relative to smaller ETFs, achieving this amount of FUM de-risks the ETF.
What about management fees and costs?
Vanguard charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.10% for the VAS ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in VAS for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $2.00.
For context, the average management fee (MER) of all ETFs covered by Best ETFs Australia on our complete list of ASX ETFs is 0.5% or around $10.00 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind, small changes in fees can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years.
Next steps
Before buying any ETF based on what you read here on Best ETFs, check out our Vanguard VAS report – it’s completely free! Then, search our complete list of ASX ETFs to do a proper side-by-side comparison of your chosen sector or thematic.
