Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market, the Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE Quick QuoteVOE - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on August 17, 2006.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $23.86 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Value

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Carrying lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, value stocks also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. While value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in nearly all markets when you consider long-term performance, growth stocks are more likely to outpace value stocks in strong bull markets.

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 0.05%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.89%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector -- about 19.6% of the portfolio. Energy and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC) accounts for about 1.8% of total assets, followed by Valero Energy Corp (VLO) and Phillips 66 (PSX).

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.69% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

VOE seeks to match the performance of the CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Value Index before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Mid Cap Value Index seeks to accurately represent the mid-cap value segment of the U.S. equity market and deliver low turnover.

The ETF has added roughly 17.38% so far this year and is up roughly 20.48% in the last one year (as of 10/16/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $168.89 and $211.01.

The ETF has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 13.37% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 176 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VOE is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF (IWS) track a similar index. While First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF has $11.01 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF has $15.46 billion. SDVY has an expense ratio of 0.58% and IWS charges 0.23%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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.