Betashares Australian Quality ETF (ASX: AQLT) does things a little differently to standard index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Instead of following an index that ranks stocks based on market capitalisation, it follows on ranking them on three financial metrics.
They are high return on equity (ROE), low debt, and stable earnings.
The index that AQLT seeks to track, before fees, is the Solactive Australia Quality Select Index.
Index providers update their indexes regularly, so investors in AQLT can feel assured that their money is invested in high-quality businesses at all times.
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Which shares is AQLT ETF invested in?
The AQLT ETF provides concentrated exposure to 40 ASX shares.
Its top holdings today are Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares at 6.5% of funds, BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) at 6%, Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) at 5.5%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) at 5%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) at 5%.
Top sector allocations are financials (37%), consumer discretionary (14%), materials (14%), healthcare (10.5%), and technology (8%).
The AQLT ETF distributes dividends twice per year. The management fee is 0.35% per annum.
Betashares says the AQLT is its best performer for price growth in 2025 so far.
Since its inception in 2022, AQLT has delivered an average annual total return (including dividends) of 14.5%.
AQLT ETF is trading at $34.50 per unit at the time of writing, down 0.7% for the day so far and up 11.7% in the year to date.
Let's see how that performance translates had you invested $10,000 into AQLT a year ago.
What is $10,000 invested a year ago now worth?
On 26 September 2024, AQLT closed at $30.39 apiece.
If you had put $10,000 into the AQLT ETF then, it would have bought you 329 units (for $9,998.31).
There's been capital growth of $4.11 per unit since then, which equates to $1,352.19.
Betashares has paid two distributions to AQLT investors since 26 September 2024.
They were 37.1119 cents per unit in January and 78.67 cents per unit in July.
So, you would have received $380.91 in income over the past year.
Total returns…
We'll assume you took those dividends as cash, however, AQLT investors do have access to a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) should they wish to reinvest their distributions for the benefit of compounding over time.
Your capital gain of $1,352.19 plus your distributions of $380.91 gives you a total annual return, in dollar terms, of $1,733.10.
Remember, you invested $9,998.31 in AQLT last year.
This means you have received a total return, in percentage terms, of 17.3% over 12 months. (Plus about 60% franking on those distributions.)
Therefore, your $10,000 investment in AQLT a year ago would be worth $11,731.40 today.
