The last five years have been good for the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF (ASX: VAS).
The exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) has seen its unit price shoot 16.5% higher in that time.
The VAS ETF was trading at $77.28 in January 2018. At that price, $1,000 would have bought 12 units, leaving an investor with around $73 in change.
Today, its units are swapping hands for $90 apiece. That means our figurative parcel would now be worth $1,080.
For comparison, the ASX 300 has gained 20.3% in that time.
But how much has the VAS ETF returned when we also factor in the dividends it's handed out in that time? Let's take a look.
How much has the VAS ETF paid in dividends in 5 years?
Here are all the dividends offered by the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF over the last half-decade, rounded to the nearest cent:
| VAS dividends' pay date | Dividend value |
| October 2022 | $1.45 |
| July 2022 | $2.16 |
| April 2022 | $2 |
| January 2022 | 70 cents |
| October 2021 | $1.41 |
| July 2021 | 56 cents |
| April 2021 | 77 cents |
| January 2021 | 43 cents |
| October 2020 | 57 cents |
| July 2020 | 21 cents |
| April 2020 | 67 cents |
| January 2020 | 72 cents |
| October 2019 | $1.07 |
| July 2019 | 82 cents |
| April 2019 | 92 cents |
| January 2019 | 71 cents |
| October 2018 | $1.12 |
| July 2018 | $1.02 |
| April 2018 | 67 cents |
| January 2018 | 68 cents |
| Total: | $18.66 |
As the chart above shows, each Vanguard Australian Shares ETF unit has provided $18.66 in dividends over the last five years.
That means our 12-unit-strong parcel likely yielded $223.92 in that time – or around 24% of its purchase price.
Further, the ETF has returned 40.6% since January 2018 when we tally both dividends and share price gains. That's certainly nothing to scoff at.
And those returns might have been bolstered if our imagined investor had reinvested their dividends, thereby compounding their holding.
Right now, the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF is trading with a 7% dividend yield.
