The BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) is one of the most popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the ASX. In fact, it is currently the third-largest ETF covering international shares on our market, with more than $9 billion in assets under management.
However, thanks to its rather opaque name, many investors might not actually know what this ETF is offering up to them.
This is important for any ASX ETF, but arguably particularly so for NDQ units. This ETF is one of the most concentrated funds when it comes to the US stocks it is exposing ASX investors to. Some investors who don't yet own the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF might wish to buy some after hearing about these stocks. Others may want to stay away from the heavy exposure to tech stocks that this index fund offers up.
If you wish to find out which side of this ledger you might fall on, you're in the right place.
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NDQ: What's in this ASX ETF?
Let's start at the top. The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF is technically an index fund that tracks the NASDAQ-100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX). This index contains the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the NASDAQ, one of the two major stock exchanges in the United States of America.
The NASDAQ, together with the New York Stock Exchange, houses almost all of the publicly listed stocks in America. However, the NASDAQ is the more modern exchange that tends to attract newer companies, particularly of the tech persuasion. As a result, the Betahsares Nasdaq 100 ETF is heavily exposed to America's largest tech companies.
In fact, its current top ten holdings are all tech stocks. Here's a look at them, including how much weight they take up in the NDQ ETF's portfolio:
- Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) at 7.5% of NDQ's portfolio
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) at 7.2%
- Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MU) at 4.8%
- Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) at 4.5%
- Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) at 4.1%
- Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: AMD) at 3.9%
- Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL) at 3.4%
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) at 3.3%
- Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG) at 3.1%
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) at 2.8%
As you can see, NDQ's top ten reads as a who's who of the tech world. Of course, this isn't a tech-only ETF. Some other names in this fund that you might recognise that hail from other sectors include Walmart Inc (NASDAQ: WMT), PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ: PEP), and Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST).
But drilling down, a whopping 61.4% of NDQ's weighted portfolio is in tech stocks. The next-most dominant sector in this ASX ETF is communications, at a mere 12.1%.
Tech lifts the BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF
Of course, NDQ's fans will tell you (and they aren't wrong) that it is this tech exposure that is responsible for this ETF's breathtaking returns over many years.
Since its inception in 2015, the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has returned an average of 20.37% per annum. That's as of 30 June. That extends to 22.45% per annum over the past ten years.
Over the past five years, investors have enjoyed 17.86% per annum, 24.4% over three years, and 26.37% over the past 12 months.
Let's see how NDQ fares going forward.
The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF charges a management fee of 0.48% per annum.
