Getting the best of both worlds, in terms of strong dividends and good capital growth, from one investment is an unfamiliar feat.
Generally speaking, ASX shares are divided into two camps.
Large, mature, stable, and long-standing companies with reliable income streams tend to sit in the class of ASX dividend shares.
These stocks prioritise rewarding shareholders by distributing a large percentage of their profits as dividends.
Small to medium companies that are young and reinvesting their income back into their businesses are labelled ASX growth shares.
These companies reinvest most of their earnings to expand their operations and generate higher compound future returns.
Traditional thinking is that dividend shares are good for income, growth shares are good for capital gains, and never the twain shall meet.
In other words, individual ASX stocks can rarely deliver both dividends and growth on a significant scale.
But exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a different type of investment.
ETFs represent a basket of shares, and this mix of stocks can create both a high-yielding and high-growth investment.
Here's a great example.
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ASX ETF with 8% dividend yield
The Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY) does what it says on the box.
Vanguard says VHY is designed to give investors exposure to shares that have higher forecast dividends than their peers.
It tracks the FTSE Australia High Dividend Yield Index before fees.
Currently, the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF is trading at $77.96 per unit, down 0.06% on Tuesday.
This ASX ETF pays distributions quarterly, and the last four payments add up to about $6.51 per unit.
Based on today's unit price, this gives the VHY ETF a trailing annual dividend yield of 8.35%.
That's more than double the current market average for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which Betashares estimates to be 3.34%.
But VHY ETF is also delivering pretty impressive capital growth over the long term, too.
Case in point: over the past five years, the VHY ETF has grown by 49%, outperforming the ASX 200, which grew by 47%.
Which ASX shares does VHY ETF hold?
The VHY ETF has a few rules to ensure good diversification.
First, it doesn't invest more than 40% of funds in any one industry. It also doesn't invest more than 10% of funds in any one company.
VHY currently holds 75 shares across all market sectors, bar real estate investment trusts (REITs).
Almost 70% of its holdings are ASX large-cap shares.
This makes sense because large-cap companies are older and more stable, with reliable earnings to fund consistently high dividends.
The VHY ETF's top 10 shares are: BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO), and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
But VHY also holds a selection of ASX small-cap shares, which helps it deliver solid capital growth alongside its strong dividend yield.
Some of VHY's smallest holdings are Insignia Financial Ltd (ASX: IFL) shares, up 63% year over year (yoy), Kelsian Group Ltd (ASX: KLS), up 24% yoy, NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF), up 26% yoy, and NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX: NWH), up 31% yoy.
The ASX VHY has $5.76 billion in funds under management (FUM).
