Vanguard Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs)® | Vanguard (2024)

FAQs

What is Vanguard's best performing ETF? ›

An ETF is a collection of hundreds or thousands of stocks or bonds, managed by experts, in a single fund that trades on major stock exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trade on stock exchanges throughout the day, while mutual funds are bought or sold at the net asset value (NAV) at the end of the trading day, and ETFs often have lower expense ratios than mutual funds.

Build a fully diversified portfolio with just 4 ETFs

This level of diversification can help reduce your overall investment risk while making it easier to manage your portfolio.

The best-performing ETF in the last 10 years was VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH). A $10,000 investment into SMH 10 years ago would be worth over $110K today.

For most individual investors, ETFs represent an ideal type of asset with which to build a diversified portfolio. In addition, ETFs tend to have much lower expense ratios compared to actively managed funds, can be more tax-efficient, and offer the option to immediately reinvest dividends.

ETFs and index mutual funds tend to be generally more tax efficient than actively managed funds. And, in general, ETFs tend to be more tax efficient than index mutual funds. You want niche exposure. Specific ETFs focused on particular industries or commodities can give you exposure to market niches.

Is it better to own stocks or ETFs? ›

Investing in an individual stock can deliver very high returns, and you won't be taxed on any capital gains until you sell, in a taxable account. A single stock can potentially return a lot more than an ETF, where you receive the weighted average performance of the holdings.

ETFs are for the most part safe from counterparty risk. Although scaremongers like to raise fears about securities-lending activity inside ETFs, it's mostly bunk: Securities-lending programs are usually over-collateralized and extremely safe. The one place where counterparty risk matters a lot is with ETNs.

Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund (VWEAX)

The Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund is the company's top performing bond fund over the past decade. It features a high-yield, intermediate-term fixed income portfolio.

*Vanguard average ETF and mutual fund expense ratio: 0.08%. Industry average ETF and mutual fund expense ratio: 0.44%.

You expose your portfolio to much higher risk with sector ETFs, so you should use them sparingly, but investing 5% to 10% of your total portfolio assets may be appropriate. If you want to be highly conservative, don't use these at all.

As of June 2024, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth Index provided the highest one-year return rate. The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth Index Fund ranked second having a one-year return rate of 36.3 percent.

Diversification: VTI offers broader diversification by including companies of all sizes, while VOO's focus on large-cap companies may provide a slightly less diversified exposure. Performance: The performance of VTI and VOO can vary depending on the performance of the underlying indexes.