1. Exposure
The Vanguard VAP ETF provides investors with low-cost exposure to listed Australian property companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs).
The VAP ETF could be used to gain exposure to the Australian property market without the prohibitive costs of actually purchasing property. It could also be used as a tactical position to diversify an existing equity portfolio and generate a regular income stream.
2. Funds under management (FUM)
The Vanguard VAP ETF had $2283.54 million of money invested when we last pulled the monthly numbers. Given VAP’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.
3. Management fees & costs matter
Vanguard charges investors a yearly management fee of 0.23% for the VAP ETF. This means that if you invested $2,000 in VAP for a full year, you could expect to pay management fees of around $4.60.
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.
What now?
These are just some of the considerations or factors you would need to consider when weighing up the VAP ETF. If you’re looking to do some further digging, be sure to read our Vanguard VAP report – it’s free. While you’re at it, don’t forget to search our complete list of ASX ETFs. You can filter the results according to sector, issuer, size, and more.