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Should Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF - Free Report) was launched on 12/27/2001, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $13.03 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.17%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Blackstone Inc. (BKF2SL7) accounts for about 1.20% of total assets, followed by Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER - Free Report) and Snowflake Inc. (BN134B7).

Performance and Risk

VXF seeks to match the performance of the S&P Completion Index before fees and expenses. The S&P Completion Index contains all of the U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market, except those stocks included in the S&P 500 Index.

The ETF has lost about -25.09% so far this year and is down about -21.38% in the last one year (as of 05/19/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $133.16 and $199.99.

The ETF has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 28.51% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 3691 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Extended Market 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, VXF is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard MidCap ETF (VO - Free Report) and the iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF (IJH - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard MidCap ETF has $48.12 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF has $58.74 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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