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Should You Invest in the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC)?

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The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) was launched on 01/26/2004, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 9, placing it in bottom 44%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $7.31 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. VDC seeks to match the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index measures the investment return of stocks in the consumer staples sector.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.10%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.38%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector--about 99.70% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Procter & Gamble Co/the (PG - Free Report) accounts for about 11.48% of total assets, followed by Costco Wholesale Corp (COST - Free Report) and Walmart Inc (WMT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.17% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has added roughly 16.07% so far, and is up about 19.84% over the last 12 months (as of 09/25/2024). VDC has traded between $175.13 and $221.32 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.61 and standard deviation of 13.28% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 107 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, VDC is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

IShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (IYK - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. IShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF has $1.41 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $18.72 billion. IYK has an expense ratio of 0.40% and XLP charges 0.09%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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