Should You Invest in the Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS)?

The Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) was launched on 09/23/2004, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $5.42 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Broad segment of the equity market. VIS seeks to match the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Industrials 25/50 is made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small U.S. companies within the industrials sector.

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 0.09%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.30%.

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 in the Industrials sector--about 99.90% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, General Electric Co (GE) accounts for about 4.12% of total assets, followed by Rtx Corp (RTX) and Caterpillar Inc (CAT).

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Vanguard Industrials ETF has lost about -0.70% so far, and is up about 6.02% over the last 12 months (as of 04/03/2025). VIS has traded between $232.12 and $279.70 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 17.77% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 389 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Vanguard Industrials ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, VIS is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR) tracks Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF has $3.21 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $20.32 billion. AIRR has an expense ratio of 0.70% and XLI charges 0.08%.

Bottom Line

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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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