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19 important things you should know about Vanguard VWO ETF
Updated: July 07, 2021
80
Bull Case
- 3-year return above the benchmark
- 5-year return above the benchmark
- 15-year return above the benchmark
- Low expense ratio
Bear Case
- 10-year return below the benchmark
Before we start: if you’re looking for VWO “stock” price, you can quickly find it out by visiting Finny and typing "VWO quote". If you’re looking for a quick scoop on VWO "stock" (price chart, key stats, buy or sell analysis and holdings), go to Finny and look for "VWO". You’ll get all this info in one place.
Are you looking to buy or sell VWO? Or perhaps you’re looking for VWO fact sheet, and learn about its alternatives? If so, you came to the right place.
In this VWO ETF review, we’ll address key questions our readers have been asking us about this fund, above and beyond what you can find in its prospectus, and on Morningstar or Yahoo Finance.
Here is what you’ll be able to find in this review:
- Fact Sheet: VWO performance, returns, expense ratio, holdings and dividend yield;
- Analysis: VWO buy or sell; the pros and cons of investing in VWO ETF;
- Alternatives: other ETFs and mutual funds you should consider as alternatives to VWO.
And here is the list of questions we’ll answer:
- Describe Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO).
- What is VWO underlying index?
- What are VWO holdings?
- What is VWO performance? What are VWO historical returns?
- How many up and down years did VWO have historically?
- What is VWO dividend yield?
- What is VWO expense ratio?
- What is VWO tax efficiency (tax-cost ratio)?
- What is VWO Sharpe ratio?
- What is VWO Finny Score? VWO buy or sell?
- What are the pros of investing in VWO? What are VWO buy reasons?
- What are the cons of investing in VWO? What are VWO sell reasons?
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs EEM.
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs QQQ.
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs SPY.
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs VEU.
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs VSS.
- Compare and contrast: VWO vs VTI.
So let’s start. Scroll down to the question that interests you the most.
Fact Sheet
1. Describe Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO).
The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by companies located in emerging market countries. The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index by sampling the Index.
3. What are VWO top holdings?
VWO has 4,280 stock holdings and 1 bond holdings.
The top 10 holdings represent 27.97% of total assets. Here are the top holdings:
| Name | Symbol | % Assets |
|---|---|---|
| Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ADR | BABA | 8.15% |
| Tencent Holdings Ltd | 00700 | 6.66% |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd | 2330.TW | 3.74% |
| Meituan | 03690 | 2.03% |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR | TSM.TW | 1.97% |
| Reliance Industries Ltd | RELIANCE.B | 1.31% |
| Naspers Ltd Class N | NPN.JO | 1.25% |
| JD.com Inc ADR | JD | 1.06% |
| China Construction Bank Corp Class H | 00939 | 0.96% |
| Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd Class H | 02318 | 0.84% |
4. What is VWO performance? What are VWO historical returns?
VWO has generated the following returns:
- 1-month return is -1.63%;
- 3-month return is 3.28%;
- 1-year return is 34.30%;
- 3-year return is 11.92%;
- 5-year return is 11.62%;
- 10-year return is 3.70%;
- 15-year return is 6.22%.
5. How many up and down years did VWO have historically?
In the last 10 years, VWO had 5 up years and 5 down years.
6. What is VWO dividend yield?
VWO yield is 1.8%.
7. What is VWO expense ratio?
VWO expense ratio is 0.1%. The expense ratio of a fund is the total percentage of fund assets used for administrative, management, and all other expenses.
8. What is VWO tax efficiency (tax-cost ratio)?
- 1-year ax cost ratio is 0.87%;
- 3-year ax cost ratio is 0.95%.
9. What is VWO Sharpe ratio?
- 3-year Sharpe ratio is 0.62;
- 5-year Sharpe ratio is 0.72;
- 10-year Sharpe ratio is 0.27;
- 15-year Sharpe ratio is 0.35.
Analysis
10. What is Finny Score? buy or sell?
Finny Score is 80. Our quantitative analysis shows 4 reasons to buy and 1 reason to sell it, resulting in the Finny Score of 80.
11. What are the pros of investing in VWO? What are VWO buy reasons?
The following are VWO strengths from our perspective:
- VWO 3-year return is 11.92%, which is higher than the 3-year return of the benchmark index (MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD), 9.8%.
- VWO 5-year return is 11.62%, which is higher than the 5-year return of the benchmark index (MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD), 10.89%.
- VWO 15-year return is 6.22%, which is higher than the 15-year return of the benchmark index (MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD), 4.84%.
- VWO expense ratio is 0.1%, which is considered low. Nice job picking a low-cost fund.
12. What are the cons of investing in VWO? What are VWO negatives?
The following are VWO weaknesses from our perspective:
- VWO 10-year return is 3.7%, which is lower than the 10-year return of the benchmark index (MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD), 5.37%.
Alternatives
13. Compare and contrast: VWO vs EEM.
Both VWO and EEM are ETFs. VWO has a lower 5-year return than EEM (11.62% vs 11.82%). VWO has a lower expense ratio than EEM (0.1% vs 0.68%). Below is the comparison between VWO and EEM.
| VWO | EEM | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $32.57B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.68% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | MSCI Emerging Markets Index |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 6.48% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 34.4% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 10.82% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 11.82% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 3.38% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | N/A |
For further information, check out VWO vs EEM comparison details.
14. Compare and contrast: VWO vs QQQ.
Both VWO and QQQ are ETFs. VWO has a lower 5-year return than QQQ (11.62% vs 28.15%). VWO has a lower expense ratio than QQQ (0.1% vs 0.2%). Below is the comparison between VWO and QQQ.
| VWO | QQQ | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: U.S. - Large Cap |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $177.01B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | NASDAQ-100 Index |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 14.58% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 43.02% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 28.51% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 28.15% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 21.22% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | 0.53% |
QQQ profile: The Fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index. The Index measures the average performance of a broadly diversified group of equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc.
For further information, check out VWO vs QQQ comparison details.
15. Compare and contrast: VWO vs SPY.
Both VWO and SPY are ETFs. VWO has a lower 5-year return than SPY (11.62% vs 17.77%). VWO has a higher expense ratio than SPY (0.1% vs 0.09%). Below is the comparison between VWO and SPY.
| VWO | SPY | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: U.S. - Large Cap |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $374.03B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.09% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | S&P 500 |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 16.77% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 41% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 18.94% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 17.77% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 14.69% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | 1.33% |
SPY profile: The Trust seeks investment results that, before expenses, generally correspond to the price and yield performance of the component common stocks of the S&P 500 Index.
For further information, check out VWO vs SPY comparison details.
16. Compare and contrast: VWO vs VEU.
Both VWO and VEU are ETFs. VWO has a higher 5-year return than VEU (11.62% vs 11.18%). VWO has a higher expense ratio than VEU (0.1% vs 0.08%). Below is the comparison between VWO and VEU.
| VWO | VEU | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: Global Ex-U.S. - Total Market |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $34.95B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.08% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | FTSE All World ex US Net TR US RIC |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 10.09% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 34.2% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 10.34% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 11.18% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 5.57% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | 1.89% |
VEU profile: The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks of companies located in developed and emerging markets outside of the United States. The Fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the FTSE All-World ex US Index.
For further information, check out VWO vs VEU comparison details.
17. Compare and contrast: VWO vs VSS.
Both VWO and VSS are ETFs. VWO has a higher 5-year return than VSS (11.62% vs 10.87%). VWO has a lower expense ratio than VSS (0.1% vs 0.11%). Below is the comparison between VWO and VSS.
| VWO | VSS | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: Global Ex-U.S. - Small Cap |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $9.54B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.11% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | FTSE Global ex US Small Cap Index Net Tax (US RIC) |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 13.32% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 43.67% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 9.19% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 10.87% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 5.82% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | 1.69% |
VSS profile: The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks of international small-cap companies. The Fund employs an indexing investment approach to track the FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index by investing in representative sample of securities that resembles the full Index.
For further information, check out VWO vs VSS comparison details.
18. Compare and contrast: VWO vs VTI.
Both VWO and VTI are ETFs. VWO has a lower 5-year return than VTI (11.62% vs 18.11%). VWO has a higher expense ratio than VTI (0.1% vs 0.03%). Below is the comparison between VWO and VTI.
| VWO | VTI | |
|---|---|---|
| Segment | Equity: Emerging Markets - Total Market | Equity: U.S. - Total Market |
| Net Assets | $84.08B | $252.63B |
| Expense Ratio | 0.1% | 0.03% |
| Management Style | passive (index-based) | passive (index-based) |
| Underlying Index | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index Net TR US RIC | CRSP US Total Market Index |
| YTD Return | 8.39% | 16.47% |
| 1-Year Return | 34.3% | 44.58% |
| 3-Year Return | 11.92% | 19.07% |
| 5-Year Return | 11.62% | 18.11% |
| 10-Year Return | 3.7% | 14.66% |
| Dividend Yield | 1.8% | 1.3% |
VTI profile: The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market. The Fund employs an indexing investment approach to track the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index. The Fund invests by holding a collection of securities that approximates the Index.
For further information, check out VWO vs VTI comparison details.