Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE)
The Vanguard Energy ETF has a stock symbol of VDE. This stock is presently at $86.40 a share as of 11/17/09. The 52 week range this stock has traveled is a low of $52.19 and a high of $89.44. The inception date of this fund was 12/22/2004.
This is a narrow focus fund on almost exclusively the oil and natural gas companies with over $1.2 billion in assets. The Morningstar risk measures for this fund are low as far as risk is concerned and average when it comes to returns. 100% of the assets are invested in stocks of companies involved in research, exploration, and production of the raw petroleum product and natural gas.
The top 5 companies that this fund has stock in are 18.53% with ExxonMobil Corporation, 11.82% with Chevron Corporation, 6.45% with Schlumberger Ltd., 5.88% with ConocoPhillips, and 4.87% with Occidental Petroleum Corporation. This is a total of 47.54% of all the stock holding of this fund. 2.7% of the overall stocks are foreign firms. There are a total of 158 different stocks in the holdings of this fund with an annual turnover rate of 25%.
Investors return versus total returns for 1 year are 16.20% vs. 10.69%, 3 year annualized is 0.91% vs. 1.16% and the 5 year annualized is 3.60% vs. 11.18%. The management fees of this fund are presently at 0.20%.
If as an investor you are looking to have a stake in the oil industry, this fund provides exposure and investment in the largest players of the market. When investing, make sure you remember that the energy sectors are very volatile and will fluctuate. Do your own research but the Vanguard Energy ETF is a low risk and average return investment. Look at the Vanguard funds before you invest for good ideas.