How would an investor add VLC to a portfolio?
The Vanguard VLC ETF provides exposure to the MSCI Australian Shares Large Cap Index. This index is a âfree float-adjusted market capitalization indexâ which provides investors with exposure to the largest companies on the ASX.
According to our most recent data, the VLC ETF had $158.79 million of money invested. With VLC’s total funds under management (FUM) figure over $100 million, the ETF meets our team’s minimum investment criteria for FUM levels. As a general rule, our team draws 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 lowers the chance that the ETF issuer will close the ETF.
Fees to consider
According to our numbers, the annual management fee on the VLC ETF is .2%. The issuer, Vanguard, collects this fee automatically.
Meaning, if you invested $2,000 in the VLC ETF for a full year you could expect to pay management fees of around $4.00. This fee is different from the fee you pay to your brokerage provider (e.g. CommSec, NabTrade, SelfWealth, etc.), which is the fee to buy or sell the ETF. In addition to a management fee charged by the issuer, be mindful to check the ‘spread‘ for the ETF.
A fee comparison
Fees aren’t the only key consideration for ETF investors, but it’s an easy thing to do. To understand if the ETF you’re looking at is too costly, compare it with other ETFs from the same sector, and against the industry average. For example, the average management fee (MER) across all of the ETFs covered by the Best ETFs Australia team was 0.5%, which is $10.00 per $2,000 invested. Keep in mind that small changes in the fees paid can make a big difference after 10 or 20 years. You should read the VLC Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), available on the ETF issuer’s website, because it will detail the fees, tax implications and the latest information.
The VLC ETF could be one to add to your watchlist. If you want to access our full ETF review, click here to get our full report – it’s totally free.
Getting to know the AUST ETF
The BetaShares AUST Fund is an actively managed fund that passively tracks the ASX 200, while providing investors with a risk managed approach that aims to minimise volatility and protect against losses in declining markets.
With our numbers for July 2022, AUST’s FUM stood at $37.92 million. Given it has less than $100 million invested, ask yourself (or your adviser) if the ETF is still too small (and if you should wait to buy into it). If you’re concerned the ETF might not be established enough, compare it alongside one of the other Active ETF (e.g. ETMF) sector ETFs, using our full list of ETFs.
A look at the AUST ETF fee load?
BetaShares, the ETF issuer, charges a yearly management fee of 0.49% for the AUST ETF. Meaning, if you invest $2,000 for a full year from now you can expect to pay a management fee of around $9.80.
This management fee is below the average for all ETFs on our Best ETFs Australia list of ETFs. However, you might still be able to find a cheaper ETF for less.
Picking over ETFs seems too easy to be true: ‘just pick one and put it in your bottom-drawer’. However, it’s important to get it right the first time so that you won’t end up having to chop-and-change positions (and potentially pay extra tax). To make your life a little easier, if you’re looking at the AUST ETF, make sure you click here to access our analyst’s investment report. It’s free.
