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Should Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) was launched on 01/26/2004, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $20.59 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Growth

Sitting at a market capitalization below $2 billion, small cap companies tend to be high-potential stocks compared to its large and mid cap counterparts, but come with higher risk.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.07%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.57%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 22.60% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Slcmt1142 accounts for about 1.46% of total assets, followed by Axon Enterprise Inc (AXON - Free Report) and Deckers Outdoor Corp (DECK - Free Report) .

Performance and Risk

VBK seeks to match the performance of the CRSP U.S. Small Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The CRSP U.S. Small Cap Growth Index measures the investment return of small-capitalization growth stocks.

The ETF has gained about 26.27% so far this year and it's up approximately 35.13% in the last one year (as of 12/05/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $222.95 and $304.19.

The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 24.38% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 617 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Small-Cap Growth 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, VBK is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (IJT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF has $6.98 billion in assets, iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $13.46 billion. IJT has an expense ratio of 0.18% and IWO charges 0.24%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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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