Launched on 12/27/2001, the Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $22.36 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. 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.
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 0.06%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.04%.
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund’s holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector–about 18.40% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Slcmt1142 accounts for about 1.27% of total assets, followed by Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL) and Apollo Global Management Inc (APO).
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 return is roughly 4.71% so far this year and was up about 23.89% in the last one year (as of 01/29/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $160.38 and $207.15.
The ETF has a beta of 1.22 and standard deviation of 22.82% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 3454 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Vanguard Extended Market ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, VXF is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box – Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
