Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on December 27, 2001.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $26.47 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Blend
Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.
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
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.05%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.08%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 21.3% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Slcmt1142 accounts for about 1.73% of total assets, followed by Snowflake Inc (SNOW) and Marvell Technology Inc (MRVL).
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 has added about 5% so far this year and was up about 11.64% in the last one year (as of 02/10/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $150.43 and $222.28.
The ETF has a beta of 1.15 and standard deviation of 19.82% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 3404 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 good 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 $95.09 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $112.00 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.03% 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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