The Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) is the most popular exchange-traded fund (ETF) in terms of how much money is invested in it. At 30 June 2025, there was a whopping $20.8 billion invested in the fund.
It's a highly utilised investment and there are plenty of reasons to like it, such as low costs and diversification. Getting exposure to the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) is a useful investment strategy.
I'd say that the VAS ETF is one of the most effective ways to invest in the Australian share market broadly, but there are a few things that we should keep in mind.
It's not the cheapest
The VAS ETF is one of the cheapest ways to invest in ASX shares, with an annual management fee of just 0.07%. That's pleasingly close to virtually nothing.
However, it isn't the cheapest ETF for ASX shares. That honour belongs to BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200), which invests in 200 of the largest businesses on the ASX. The A200 ETF has an annual management fee of just 0.04%.
While the variance between the cost of the two funds is very small, there is a difference and it means the VAS ETF isn't the cheapest. Of course, VAS ETF does give exposure to 100 more businesses, which may appeal to investors.
Mixed diversification benefits
One of the best benefits of investing in an ASX ETF is that it has strong diversification. Being able to buy all of those shares in a single trade is a great benefit.
However, the VAS ETF does not provide equal exposure to all of those businesses. Something like the VanEck Australian Equal Weight ETF (ASX: MVW) may appeal to investors for wanting equal weightings.
The VAS ETF does have 300 holdings, however the weighting in the fund of each position is based on how large the businesses are.
At the end of June 2025, close to half (46.5%) of the total fund was represented by just 10 holdings, which makes it seem less diversified than the first glance. Those 10 businesses are Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) and Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS).
Sector diversification is also not quite as diversified as I'd like it to be. More than half of the fund is invested in just two areas: financials (34.5%) and materials (mining – 17.6%). It's not surprising those two sectors make up a large part of the fund due to Australia's economy.
I love investing in ASX shares, but I prefer to include some individual ASX shares in my portfolio for better underlying diversification.
Are the VAS ETF's returns strong?
The VAS ETF has been going since inception in May 2009. In that time (to June 2025) it has produced an average return per year of 9.3%. In the ten years to June 2025, it delivered an average return per year of 8.8%.
Those return figures include the capital growth and income.
However, the VAS ETF isn't the only fund available to Aussies. There are multiple options that can give exposure to the global share market, with businesses that have much larger growth runways, enabling them to grow at a pleasing pace for longer. Additionally, the northern hemisphere is where many of the best technology businesses are listed. Those tech companies have largely been the ones to drive the returns.
For example, the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) has returned an average of 15.2% per year over the past decade. That's significantly better than the VAS ETF's result.
I think the VAS ETF can work well in a portfolio of other ASX ETFs such as the IVV ETF, the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) or the VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL).
