Vanguard Australian Shares Index Fund (ASX VAS) is the largest Exchange Traded Fund of its kind listed on the ASX. The common idea everyone has of investing is professionals picking stocks that they think will outperform the market. Research consistently shows a large portion of active funds does not beat the market after fees.
Index Funds or passive funds aim to replicate the market’s performance without trying to pick winners or losers. An index fund only tracks the major market it is designed to replicate, such as the largest 200 Australian companies (ASX 200) or the broader market, including all listed companies, All Ords.
First, we have to declare we are not paid by Vanguard and are not compensated in any way by Vanguard for writing this post. Even though we actively manage our own investment portfolio (sometimes borderline trading rather than investing). Investing without knowledge can be dangerous in the long run, and we think that low cost passive funds should be the default fund for most people, which will keep them out of trouble more than anything.
Vanguard Australian Shares Index Fund
VAS share price track the changes in the S&P ASX 300, which represents the 300 largest companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
It is a liquid fund with around +$6.0 billion in assets under management and has been listed on the ASX since 2009. There is also an unlisted version of the fund that has been in existence since 1989. The performance since 1989 shows the power of buy and hold investing where it has returned 9% per annum since. The key for long term investing is not timing the market but time in the market.
It is important to note that there is an overlap between the major ASX indices. Companies in the ASX 20, which includes the largest 20 companies, are also included in 100, 200 and 300 indexes. This is analogous to tree rings, whereas you expand the index size, the largest companies’ share in the portfolio gradually decreases.
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Not suprisingly the chart of the sector weights of all of the major Australian indices shows that the mining and financial sectors make up the smallest weight out of all major Australian indices.
High investment products can really make a large impact on the portfolio’s overall return in the long run. Vanguard is known to have some of the lowest cost funds listed on the ASX. Its whole philosophy is to provide a low cost market tracking fund for the everyday investor. The fund does not have a minimum investment, which means it is accessible for everyone.
The annual management fee for Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF is only 0.10%. This means the investor only pays 1.0 cent for every $100 dollar invested in the fund! It simply does not get cheaper than this.
VAS ASX Return Year to Date
There are very few index products that beat the annual cost of the VAS and even few that can match its long term return. From inception to 2016, the unlisted VAS share price has returned averaged 9% annually. Even with the ups and downs of the market. Investors in the managed fund and subsequently, the ETF would capture 100% of the Australian share market return less the cost.
Standard disclosure that past performance is not an indication of future performance and past dividend payment does not indicate future dividends from the fund.
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The dividend yield of VAS ETF fluctuates over time, depending when the investor entered the fund. Since inception, the dividend yield has averaged 4.5% per annum and is equivalent to the broader market yield around 4% to 5%, which is paid quarterly.
The long term return of the fund depends on the companies growing earnings overtime and a function of increase payout of its earnings to shareholders.
Risks
All investments come with risks and VAS ASX is no different. One issue we have to note with the fund is that although it is an Australia large cap index fund which holds positions in 300 companies. Top 10 position in the fund accounts for more than 40% of the fund value.
Even though these are blue chip companies such as all big 4 banks such as NAB and CBA, miners like Rio Tinto and BHP. It is still relatively concentrated in financials and banks for our liking.
ASX VAS Dividend History
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VAS dividends are dependent on the dividend rate of the underlying companies in the ASX 300 index. The ETF then distributes the dividends received from the companies. VAS dividends are paid quarterly in January, April, July, October and the dividends include franking credits.