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Should You Invest in the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/26/2004.

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.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Consumer Discretionary - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $7.11 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market. VCR seeks to match the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index is designed to transition in and out of securities affected by pending updates to the consumer discretionary 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 least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.83%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 99% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 22.94% of total assets, followed by Tesla Inc. (TSLA - Free Report) and Home Depot Inc. (HD - Free Report) .

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has lost about -6.05% so far, and is up about 14.29% over the last 12 months (as of 01/14/2022). VCR has traded between $275.18 and $355.63 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 24.17% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 295 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VCR is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD - Free Report) tracks StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY - Free Report) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF has $1.86 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $22.97 billion. FXD has an expense ratio of 0.61% and XLY charges 0.12%.

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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