The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) has the distinction of being the most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the ASX. It's also a rather unique ETF in that it remains the only index fund on the ASX boards that tracks the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO).
The ASX 300 is similar to the far more popular and widely-tracked S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Many ETFs on the ASX track the ASX 200, but only VAS mirrors the ASX 300.
The ASX 200 and ASX 300 both track the 200 largest shares on the ASX by market capitalisation. But the ASX 300 (you guessed it) adds another 100 of the smaller shares on the ASX. Thus, this gives VAS a slightly larger and more diverse underlying portfolio of ASX shares.
Here at the Fool, we've looked at how this has given VAS a performance edge over other ASX 200 index funds before. But today, let's see how the dividends from the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF stack up against an ASX 200 ETF.
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VAS vs ASX 200 ETFs: Whose dividends are bigger?
So, like most index funds, VAS paid a dividend distribution every quarter. Its last four distributions have totalled approximately $6.26 in dividend distributions per unit. On the current VAS unit price of $87.13, this gives the ETF a trailing dividend distribution yield of 7.18%.
Let's now compare that trailing yield to a popular ASX 200 index fund in the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ).
So, like VAS, IOZ also pays out quarterly distributions. Its last four payments amounted to approximately $1.61 per unit. On the iShares ASX 200 ETF's last unit price of $28.27, this grants the ETF a trailing yield of 5.7%.
So VAS has come out on top in terms of yield over the past 12 months, at least against IOZ. But let's look at another ASX 200 ETF, just to make sure.
This time, we'll turn to the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: STW), one of the oldest index funds on the ASX. So again, we have four dividend distributions to tally up, which in this case gives us a total of $4.18 in distribution per unit over the past 12 months.
On the current unit price, this gives us a trailing yield of 6.58% on STW's last pricing.
The differing yields between these various ETFs come down to a number of different factors. But what is clear is that the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF certainly comes out on top when assessing dividend income over the past 12 months.
