Launched on December 27, 2001, the Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $22.36 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.
Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.
Costs
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.05%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.14%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 19% of the portfolio. Industrials and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Slcmt1142 accounts for about 2.01% of total assets, followed by Microstrategy Inc (MSTR) and Applovin Corp (APP).
Performance and Risk
VXF seeks to match the performance of the S&P Completion Index before fees and expenses. The S&P Completion Index contains all of the U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market, except those stocks included in the S&P 500 Index.
The ETF return is roughly 2.53% so far this year and was up about 12.22% in the last one year (as of 08/04/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $150.43 and $207.15.
The ETF has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 21.74% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 3383 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Vanguard Extended Market ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, VXF is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $84.02 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $95.08 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.
Bottom-Line
Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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