You might be sitting back and considering the Vanguard Ethically Conscious International Shares Index ETF (ASX: VESG) and thinking that January 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 VESG ETF provides investors with exposure to a broad range of companies from developed economies around the world, while excluding companies involved with fossil fuels, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, nuclear power, and adult entertainment.
The VESG ETF could by used by investors who want to gain broad exposure to developed international equity markets while avoiding companies that could be deemed unethical.
VESG’s FUM meets our hurdle
The Vanguard VESG ETF had $643.05 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given VESG’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 International shares 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 0.18% for the VESG ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in VESG for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $3.60.
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 VESG, bear in mind that this is just an introductory glance at the ETF. To explore further, check out our free Vanguard VESG report. And for good measure, search our complete list of ASX ETFs for similar ETFs in the International shares sector to do a good comparison.
[ls_content_block id=”4954″ para=”paragraphs”]