As the ASX's most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF), many investors would be wondering how the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) fared over the financial year we've just finished up with.
FY2023 was generally a good one for ASX shares, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (SX: XJO). The ASX 200 recorded a gain of 9.67% for July 2022 to June 2023, a good result by historical standards.
But let's see how these gains translated for the VAS ETF.
Just to be clear, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF is not an ASX 200 index fund. Rather, it tracks the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO), which is a less well-known cousin of the ASX 200. As you might guess, it tracks the fortunes of the largest 300 shares listed on the ASX boards, rather than the ASX 200's… well, 200.
How did the ASX's VAS ETF go in FY2023?
So back on 30 June 2022, the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF closed at $83.75 per unit. Last Friday (30 June), those same units finished the 2023 financial year at $90.07 each. That's a unit price gain worth 7.55% for FY2023. I'm sure most VAS investors would be happy with that.
But this ETF also paid out no less than four quarterly dividend distributions throughout FY2023.
Those four payments came to a total of $4.94 per unit. Using the pricing that the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF units were going for at the start of FY2023, this would have given investors a dividend distribution yield of 5.9%. So in practice, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF gave its investors a total return of approximately 13.45% for FY2023.
That's a fairly pleasing return, given that over the past ten years, this ETF has returned an average of 8.02% per annum (including dividend distributions).
But how has this index fund managed to notch up such a successful year? Well, the three largest holdings in the Vanguard Australian Shares ETF are (in order): BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL).
Together, these three blue-chip shares account for almost a quarter of VAS's weighted portfolio.
Over FY2023, all three of these shares managed a healthy gain. BHP shares rose by just over 9%, while CBA managed an 11% bump. The CSL share price was a little more muted but still grew by 3.09% between 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2023.
So with these kinds of gains coming from VAS's largest holdings, it's not too surprising to see this popular ASX 300 ETF record such a pleasing performance for the 2023 financial year.
