Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF
Performance
Total return to 23 Oct 2026, distributions reinvested, before franking. ASX figures are to 30 Sept 2026 and gross of franking, so they run higher for franked Australian funds.
What it costs to hold
Management fee plus trading costs, compared with similar funds.
A typical fund among Asia equity funds would cost $360 (0.72% a year), so VAE is $146 cheaper.
Spread is the average gap between buying and selling prices on the ASX. Fees are shown on a flat balance, not compounded on growth. Excludes tax and any adviser or platform fees.
Calendar-year returns
Where the money is
Look-through exposure as at 31 July 2026 · 948 securities · top 10 = 38.3%
Country
Sector
Monthly returns
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.5 | 3.3 | −9.4 | 10.3 | 10.6 | 3.0 | −6.1 | 1.2 | 3.3 | −10.0 | 7.6YTD | ||
| 2025 | 3.5 | −0.6 | −1.1 | −1.9 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 6.1 | −2.5 | −0.3 | 23.4 |
| 2024 | −1.3 | 6.3 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 3.7 | 1.7 | −2.7 | 7.2 | 0.1 | −2.2 | 3.3 | 21.2 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | −2.3 | 3.4 | −0.6 | −0.2 | 0.3 | 5.3 | −3.3 | −1.8 | −2.4 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 0.2 | −5.4 | −4.9 | −1.3 | −0.4 | 0.5 | −3.2 | 1.5 | −7.6 | −3.4 | 10.7 | 1.3 | −12.5 |
| 2021 | 5.4 | −1.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 3.1 | −6.0 | 2.3 | −1.9 | −2.6 | 2.1 | −0.6 | 1.6 |
| 2020 | −0.2 | −1.7 | −7.6 | 6.1 | −5.0 | 6.3 | 3.7 | 2.9 | −0.6 | 5.4 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 13.5 |
| 2019 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 2.6 | −6.2 | 4.9 | −0.4 | −2.3 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 17.4 |
| 2018 | 3.6 | −1.6 | −0.5 | 2.9 | −2.2 | −2.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | −0.4 | −10.8 | 4.0 | 1.3 | −5.2 |
| 2017 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.1 | −2.1 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 7.2 | 2.3 | −0.4 | 29.3 |
| 2016 | −5.1 | −1.7 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 | −0.2 | −0.6 | −0.5 | 1.0 | 6.1 |
Total return each month in %, distributions reinvested, before franking. The latest month runs to the last price date. The first year starts from listing.
Top holdings
Most similar funds
Overlap is the share of the portfolio held in common, look-through. Correlation is of daily returns. High overlap means close substitutes.
VAE questions answered
Written from the latest data on this page. General information only, not financial advice.
How diversified is Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF?
Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF holds 948 securities, and its ten largest positions make up 38.3% of the fund, more spread out than the 48.1% typical of Asia equity funds. That makes it moderately diversified.
Its largest country exposure is Taiwan at 29.0%, and its biggest sector is Information Technology at 48.9%, based on holdings as at 31 July 2026.
Which ETFs does VAE double up with most?
VAE shares the most holdings with Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Shares ETF (VGE) (63% overlap), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEM) (63% overlap) and Betashares MSCI Emerging Markets Complex ETF (BEMG) (55% overlap). Overlap is the share of the portfolio the two funds hold in common, looking through to the underlying securities.
At 63%, owning both VAE and VGE would mostly double up on the same investments rather than spread your money further. Of these, BEMG has the lowest fee, at 0.35% a year against 0.40% for VAE.
How is Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF managed – active or passive?
Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF is passively managed: it follows an index and holds what that index holds, rather than relying on a manager's stock picks.
Among Asia equity funds, active funds charge a median 1.18% a year and index funds 0.60%.
What will I pay in fees for VAE?
VAE charges a management fee of 0.40% a year, about $40 for every $10,000 invested. That is cheaper than 51% of the 471 ASX ETFs we track, where the median fee is 0.44%. Among Asia equity funds, the median is 0.67%.
Lower-cost funds with a similar focus include iShares Asia 50 ETF (IAA) at 0.29%.
If you would rather have a manager choose the investments, active options such as Fidelity Asia Active ETF (FASI) at 1.16% and Fidelity India Active ETF (FIIN) at 1.20% cost more.
The fee is taken from the fund's assets and is already reflected in its returns. You'll also pay brokerage when you buy or sell, and the bid-ask spread, which has averaged 0.14% for VAE.
Does Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF follow a theme?
No. Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF is a broad equity fund: it aims to cover a wide slice of its market (Asia) rather than one theme or sector.
What is under the hood of VAE?
As at 31 July 2026, VAE's ten largest holdings are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (15.2%), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (7.1%), SK hynix Inc (5.6%), Tencent Holdings Ltd (3.2%), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (2.3%), MediaTek Inc (1.4%), DBS Group Holdings Ltd (1.0%), Samsung Electronics-Pref (0.9%), AIA Group Ltd (0.9%) and China Construction Bank Corp (0.9%). Together they make up 38.3% of the fund.
It follows an index. Most broad share indices weight companies by market size, so the largest companies take the biggest share; the exact rules for VAE's index are in the issuer's PDS. Its top 10 weighting of 38.3% compares with 48.1% for similar funds.
How well has Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF performed?
Based on its category, Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex-Japan Shares Index ETF aims to grow your capital in line with the index it tracks.
To 23 Oct 2026, with distributions reinvested, it returned 5.8% over 1 year (median −5.7%; ranked 6 of 17), 17.7% a year over 3 years (median 14.8% a year; ranked 5 of 14) and 7.6% a year over 5 years (median 4.8% a year; ranked 6 of 13). The medians and rankings compare it with Asia equity funds. Since listing in 2016 it has returned 9.2% a year.
Tracking difference is the gap between a fund's return and its index's return. We don't hold index returns, so we can't measure it for VAE; the issuer reports it in the monthly fact sheet. As a guide, a well-run index fund trails its index by about its fee, here 0.40% a year, and a much bigger gap is a warning sign.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.