Vanguard Canada Launches 5 New ETFs

Five New Vanguard Canada ETFs

First Published Date: September 5, 2013

Low cost ETF guru Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. launched 5 more new ETFs in August. Vanguard entered the Canadian ETF market in December 2011 and currently its total ETF portfolio consists of 16 ETFs, including these 5 newcomers. Let’s look at these 5 new ETFs briefly.

VCN – FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF MER 0.12% – VCN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Canada All Cap Index. The difference between VCN and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VCE FTSE Canada Index is in its holdings. VCE holds about 77 large and mid-cap stocks. On the other hand, VCN offers more diversification by holding 277 large, mid, and small cap stocks.

VDU – FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF MER 0.28% – VDU tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Developed ex North America Index. The difference between VDU and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VEF FTSE Developed ex North America Hedged CAD Index is that unlike VEE, VDU has no currency hedging. The FTSE Developed ex North America Index provides exposure to developed countries excluding North American or emerging market stocks. If you remember my older posts on iShares 5 New ETFs, XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF MER 0.30% offers broader diversification by holding 2479 stocks, while VDU holds 1338 stocks.

VUN – U.S. Total Market Index ETF MER 0.15% – VUN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index that holds about 3582 large, mid, small and micro cap stocks. VUN is basically the non-hedged version of Vanguard’s VUS.

VGG (Non-Hedged) and VGH (Hedged) U.S. Dividend Appreciation Index ETF MER 0.28% – These ETFs track (net of expenses) the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index that holds about 146 U.S. companies that have increased dividends over time. Some other U.S. dividend ETFs listed on TSX are XHD, CUD, ZDY.

There are about 281 ETFs trade on the Canadian TSX. The number is much higher in the U.S. at 1490 ETFs. Vanguard has about $2.5 trillion global assets under management ($285 billion in ETF). BlackRock iShares is the world’s largest asset manager and the world’s largest ETFs provider with about $3.6 trillion global assets under management ($645 billion in ETF).