VDC - Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares
| Previous Close | 155.73 |
| Open | 155.76 |
| Bid | 155.78 x 1000 |
| Ask | 155.81 x 800 |
| Day's Range | 155.45 - 155.90 |
| 52 Week Range | 124.93 - 157.82 |
| Volume | 38,662 |
| Avg. Volume | 127,635 |
| Net Assets | 6.01B |
| NAV | 155.67 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| Yield | 2.36% |
| YTD Return | 20.13% |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 0.64 |
| Expense Ratio (net) | 0.10% |
| Inception Date | 2004-01-26 |
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Take Buffett’s Advice: 5 Vanguard Funds to Buy
[Editor's note: This story was last updated in June 2019. It has since been updated and republished.]Vanguard should probably be thanking Warren Buffett.In Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:BRK.B) 2014 shareholders letter, Buffett mentioned Vanguard funds in a big way. Specifically, he recommended that the cash left to his wife be invested 10% in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. Not just any index fund mind you, but a Vanguard fund in particular.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 7 Stocks to Buy In a Flat Market Whether it be exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds, the Oracle of Omaha believes Vanguard funds are the way to go. With that in mind, I've put together a portfolio of two ETFs, two mutual funds and a fifth wildcard. The resulting portfolio should be appropriate for Buffett's wife -- or anyone else, for that matter. 1\. Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX)Source: Shutterstock Allocation: 50% of Portfolio 10-year performance: 13.41%The goal here is to keep costs to a minimum while generally sticking to Buffett's hypothesis when it comes to his wife's investments.In that case, it makes more sense for the S&P 500 investment to be a mutual fund rather than an ETF (although Vanguard Funds do offer commission-free ETFs) to avoid paying commissions on the largest segment of the portfolio. The Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX) charge an annual expense ratio of just 0.04%.Your annual fees would amount to a mere $20 on a $50,000 portfolio. That's hard to beat, and Buffett knows it. The largest holdings in this fund include Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG). The minimum investment is $10,000. 2\. Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund Admiral Shares (VIMAX)Allocation: 20% of Portfolio 10-year performance: 13.50% The VFIAX covers the large-cap portion of the portfolio quite nicely. While Buffett might not be fond of mid-cap stocks being added to the mix, but evidence suggests mid-caps outperformed large-cap stocks over a four-year period between 2009 and 2013.In fact, John Hancock published a report in 2012 that cautions investors about underweighting mid-caps because of an assumption that a large-cap fund combined with a small-cap fund will do the job. That's simply not the case.Mid-cap stocks tend to provide an attractive combination of risk and reward. For this reason, I recommend the Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund Admiral Shares (VIMAX), which tracks the CRSP Mid Cap Index, an index composed of stocks that fall between the top 70%-85% of investable market capitalization. * 7 Best Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now They're big enough to survive an economic hit but small enough to still be growing. With an expense ratio of 0.05%, this entry on our list of Vanguard funds is giving you safety and performance in one. Top holdings include Moody's (NYSE:MCO) and Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP). 3\. Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (VSS)Source: Shutterstock Allocation: 10% of Portfolio 3-year performance: 3.98% Although I just said mid-caps are a key part of any portfolio and tend to outperform small caps while utilizing less risk, there is always a place for small caps in your portfolio.That's especially true when the two previous picks from Vanguard Funds are almost 100% invested in the U.S. with virtually no international exposure. For this reason, a little bit of love outside America makes total sense.My recommendation is to go with the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (VSS), a fund that tracks the performance of the FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index, which consists of approximately 3,050 stocks in dozens of countries. Investing in both developed and emerging markets, the fund gives you good exposure to some of the world's future stars at an annual expense ratio of just 0.12%.With such low fees, it's no wonder Vanguard Funds has $6.6 billion invested in this ETF. 4\. Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond ETF (VGSH)Source: Shutterstock Allocation: 10% of Portfolio 5-year performance: 1.28% Buffett recommends that 10% of his wife's portfolio go to short-term government bonds. Vanguard Funds has an ETF that does exactly that.The Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond ETF (VGSH) invests in investment-grade U.S. government bonds with average maturities between one and three years. The risk, on a scale of one to five, is one -- meaning this Vanguard ETF is for conservative investors looking for stable share prices. * The 8 Worst Stocks to Buy Before the Trade Turmoil Cools Off And with an expense ratio of 0.07%, this ETF should give you peace of mind for your short-term needs. 5\. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC)Source: Shutterstock Allocation: 10% of Portfolio 10-year performance: 12.43% On this final piece of the puzzle, I'm going defensive. The mutual fund version of the S&P 500 has less than 10% invested in consumer staples' stocks. I mean to remedy that by putting the final 10% in the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC), a collection of 109 household names including Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO).Since its inception in 2004, VDC has had but one year of negative annual total returns, and that was in 2008 when it experienced a 17% decline -- 20 percentage points better than the S&P 500. When the you-know-what hits the fan, you'll be glad you own this particular low-cost ETF (with a 0.10% expense ratio) from Vanguard Funds.It seems the "keep it simple" rule holds true, and Warren Buffett is the No. 1 follower.As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 4 Top American Penny Pot Stocks (Buy Before June 21) * 7 S&P 500 Dividend Stocks to Buy at Least Yielding 3% * 7 Stocks to Buy That Don't Care About Tariffs * 5 Healthcare Stocks to Pick Up From the Wreckage The post Take Buffett's Advice: 5 Vanguard Funds to Buy appeared first on InvestorPlace.
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Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA)?
Sector ETF report for FSTA
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Consumer Staples ETFs Beating Discretionary ETFs: Why?
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Consumer Staples ETFs Red Hot: Will the Rally Last?
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Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) Hits New 52-Week High
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Wal-Mart's Mixed Q1 Results Drive Consumer ETFs Higher
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Forget Trade Fears, Invest in Defensive Sector ETFs
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PepsiCo at All-Time High Post Earnings: Staples ETFs in Focus
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5 Mutual Funds With Huge Minimum Investments
One of the primary reasons so many advisors and investors gravitate to ETFs over mutual funds is the low fees available on ETFs. An often overlooked reason why so many retail investors embrace ETFs over mutual funds is minimum investments.As in many mutual funds require minimum investments while no ETFs do. Some mutual funds have tolerable minimum investments of $500 or $1,000. Others start at $2,500 or $3,000 while some other mutual funds require minimum investments that makes these funds off-limits to a large portion of investors.Another irksome point about mutual funds' minimum investments that the higher the required investment, the lower a fund's fees are likely to be. With ETFs, the expense ratio is the expense ratio, regardless of how much investors put into the fund.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips"The main thing to understand is that the lower the investment minimum, the higher the expense ratio usually is," according to Morningstar. "The reasoning is that it's more difficult to maintain many accounts with low balances than fewer accounts with lots of assets. So although the strategy and investment portfolio (and investment manager, if applicable) are the same across all share classes, the expense ratios will differ." * 7 Top Stocks to Buy From Goldman Sachs' Secret Portfolio Here are some examples of mutual funds with minimum investments that are likely to catch investors' eyes -- but not in a good way. Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Index Fund Institutional Shares (VSPMX)Minimum investment: $5,000,000.No need to do a double-take. The Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 Index Fund Institutional Shares (MUTF:VSPMX) really does have a minimum investment of $5,000,000, according to Vanguard data.In fairness to this Vanguard mutual fund, VSPMX, at its name implies, is the institutional share class of a mutual fund with several share classes. But all of these have required investments that are significantly lower than $5,000,000.And for investors that want to dodge minimum investments altogether, the this mutual fund is available in ETF form via Vanguard S&P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVOO). That ETF charges just 0.15% per year. Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares (VGHCX)Minimum investment: $3,000There was a time when the Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares (MUTF:VGHCX) had a minimum investment that was far higher than the $3,000 investors see today. This is an actively managed healthcare mutual fund with a lengthy track record."For more than 25 years, this actively managed fund has offered investors low-cost exposure to domestic and foreign companies involved in various aspects of the health care industry, such as pharmaceutical firms, medical supply companies, and research firms," according to Vanguard. * 5 Warren Buffett Stocks You Can't Go Wrong With While it is not an ETF replica of VGHCX, the Vanguard Health Care ETF (NYSEARCA:VHT) is a suitable alternative for investors looking for lower-fee, no minimum investment product. VHT charges just 0.10% per year, making it one of the least expensive healthcare funds -- ETF or mutual fund -- on the market. Calamos Convertible I (CICVX)Minimum Investment: $1,000,000This share class of the Calamos Convertible I (MUTF:CICVX) really does require a minimum investment of $1,000,000. Fortunately, the issuer has a pair of other share classes for this mutual fund that have much more reasonable minimum investments of $500.Convertible bonds are popular with some fixed income investors because the bonds can be converted into common stock of the issuing company, giving convertibles higher correlations to stocks than other fixed income asset classes. Plus, convertibles often perform well when interest rates rise.Over half the bonds in this mutual fund are issued by technology and healthcare companies. The fund has a 30-day SEC yield of 1%. AQR Large Cap Defensive Style Fund (AUEIX)Minimum investment: $100,000 or $5,000,000The AQR Large Cap Defensive Style Fund Class I (MUTF:AUEIX) has a minimum investment of $100,000, but that is only for institutional investors. Individual investors that want to get involved with mutual fund face a minimum investment of $5,000,000, according to issuer data.Hey, at least this mutual fund does not have loads or redemption fees. In many ways, AUEIX is a standard large-cap mutual fund, looking to capture upside in bull markets while potentially experiencing less downside when markets decline. * 7 Growth Stocks Racing to All-Time Highs At the end of last year, AUEIX allocated almost a third of its combined weight to the defensive healthcare and consumer staples sectors. Technology and financial services stocks combined for 29.40% of the mutual fund's weight. Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund Admiral Shares (VCSAX)Minimum investment: $100,000.This is another case of a particular share class of a Vanguard mutual fund carrying a high required investment while also having several more affordable share classes. The Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund Admiral Shares (MUTF:VCSAX) is an index fund, not a mutual fund, tracking a sector that is popular with conservative, income-oriented investors.This mutual fund's roster "includes stocks of companies that provide direct-to-consumer products that, based on consumer spending habits, are considered essential to daily life," according to Vanguard.Investors can dodge the required minimum investment with the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (NYSEARCA:VDC), which is also one of the least expensive staples ETFs on the market.Todd Shriber does not own any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Growth Stocks Racing to All-Time Highs * 5 Warren Buffett Stocks You Can't Go Wrong With * Game On for These 3 Gaming Stocks Compare Brokers The post 5 Mutual Funds With Huge Minimum Investments appeared first on InvestorPlace.
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