Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies 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 Australian equity funds would cost $187 (0.37% a year), so VLC is $81 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 · 15 securities · top 10 = 85.4%
Country
Sector
Monthly returns
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.1 | 7.7 | −6.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 4.1 | −1.3 | −1.6 | 0.5 | 7.8YTD | ||
| 2025 | 3.7 | −4.7 | −3.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 | −1.7 | 1.1 | −4.6 | 3.8 | 7.9 |
| 2024 | 1.4 | −0.4 | 2.5 | −3.4 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 2.5 | −0.9 | 3.0 | −2.4 | 10.9 |
| 2023 | 5.9 | −3.3 | 0.0 | 0.9 | −2.8 | 1.9 | 2.4 | −0.1 | −1.9 | −2.9 | 4.9 | 8.3 | 13.3 |
| 2022 | −5.1 | 2.1 | 9.1 | −1.2 | −1.2 | −8.3 | 4.5 | 0.5 | −5.0 | 5.3 | 8.3 | −2.7 | 4.7 |
| 2021 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 0.7 | −3.0 | 0.8 | −1.5 | 2.9 | 16.1 |
| 2020 | 5.4 | −7.0 | −20.7 | 8.1 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | −3.6 | 1.3 | 10.9 | 2.9 | 2.1 |
| 2019 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 2.3 | −3.2 | 3.1 | −1.3 | 3.0 | −2.2 | 22.8 |
| 2018 | −0.4 | 0.5 | −4.5 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | −1.6 | −5.5 | −0.6 | −0.0 | −1.8 |
| 2017 | −1.1 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 0.4 | −4.1 | −0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | −0.2 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 7.1 |
| 2016 | −7.3 | −1.2 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 2.7 | −3.4 | 5.5 | −1.6 | 1.6 | −2.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 10.0 |
| 2015 | 3.3 | 6.3 | 0.2 | −3.0 | 0.2 | −5.4 | 4.6 | −9.5 | −4.0 | 5.1 | −1.6 | 3.5 | −1.5 |
| 2014 | −3.5 | 5.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | −1.2 | 3.9 | 0.3 | −5.6 | 4.7 | −2.9 | 1.6 | 4.4 |
| 2013 | 4.8 | 5.5 | −2.0 | 5.2 | −4.8 | −1.2 | 5.2 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 4.4 | −0.9 | 0.3 | 22.5 |
| 2012 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.1 | −6.5 | 1.7 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 17.0 |
| 2011 | −1.6 | −5.1 | −1.8 | −5.0 | 5.8 | −4.2 | −0.4 | −12.1 |
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.
VLC questions answered
Written from the latest data on this page. General information only, not financial advice.
How diversified is Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF?
Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF holds 15 securities, and its ten largest positions make up 85.4% of the fund, more concentrated than the 51.2% typical of Australian equity funds. That makes it fairly concentrated.
Its country exposure is almost entirely Australia (100.0%), and its biggest sector is Financials at 48.0%, based on holdings as at 31 July 2026.
Which ETFs does VLC double up with most?
VLC shares the most holdings with Betashares Australian Top 20 Equities Yield Maximiser Complex ETF (YMAX) (88% overlap), iShares S&P/ASX 20 ETF (ILC) (83% overlap) and SPDR S&P/ASX 50 ETF (SFY) (71% overlap). Overlap is the share of the portfolio the two funds hold in common, looking through to the underlying securities.
At 88%, owning both VLC and YMAX would mostly double up on the same investments rather than spread your money further.
How is Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF managed – active or passive?
Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies 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 Australian equity funds, active funds charge a median 0.85% a year and index funds 0.34%.
What will I pay in fees for VLC?
VLC charges a management fee of 0.20% a year, about $20 for every $10,000 invested. That is cheaper than 83% of the 471 ASX ETFs we track, where the median fee is 0.44%. Among Australian equity funds, the median is 0.35%.
Lower-cost funds with a similar focus include Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS) at 0.07%, Betashares Australia 200 ETF (A200) at 0.04% and iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (IOZ) at 0.05%.
If you would rather have a manager choose the investments, active options such as Dimensional Australian Core Equity Trust - Active ETF (DACE) at 0.28% and Airlie Australian Share Fund - Active ETF (AASF) at 0.78% 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 0.06% for VLC.
Does Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF follow a theme?
No. Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF is a broad equity fund: it aims to cover a wide slice of its market (Australia) rather than one theme or sector.
What is under the hood of VLC?
As at 31 July 2026, VLC's ten largest holdings are BHP Group Ltd (19.4%), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (18.8%), Westpac Banking Corp (8.2%), National Australia Bank Ltd (8.0%), ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (7.1%), Wesfarmers Ltd (6.4%), Macquarie Group Ltd (5.8%), Rio Tinto Ltd (4.0%), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (4.0%) and CSL Ltd (3.8%). Together they make up 85.4% 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 VLC's index are in the issuer's PDS. Its top 10 weighting of 85.4% compares with 51.2% for similar funds.
How well has Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF performed?
Based on its category, Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF aims to grow your capital in line with the index it tracks.
To 23 Oct 2026, with distributions reinvested, it returned 4.8% over 1 year (median 0.6%; ranked 16 of 65), 13.4% a year over 3 years (median 11.6% a year; ranked 14 of 54) and 9.0% a year over 5 years (median 6.6% a year; ranked 12 of 48). The medians and rankings compare it with Australian equity funds. Since listing in 2011 it has returned 8.2% 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 VLC; 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 0.20% a year, and a much bigger gap is a warning sign.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.