This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GLOBAL fund manager Vanguard Investments Australia is poised to launch a new Exchange Traded Funds tracking the Australian property securities.
The Vanguard Australian Property Securities Index ETF (VAP) will join the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS), the Vanguard All-World ex-US Shares Index ETF (VEU) and the Vanguard® US Total Market Shares Index ETF (VTS).
VAP is a share class of Vanguard’s Australian Property Securities Index Fund. This fund was established in October 1998 and currently has over $2 billion in funds under management.
Vanguard’s ETF product manager Robyn Laidlaw said VAP is expected to be quoted for trading on the ASX from October 15 and seeks to track the S&P/ASX 300 A-REIT Index.
Laidlaw said the product presents low cost access to the broader Australian listed property market with the objective of capturing market returns before costs and tax.
“ETFs provide all of the diversification benefits and cost and tax efficiency of indexing coupled with the trading flexibility, liquidity and pricing transparency of shares.
“In an environment where costs are playing an increasingly important role investors are gravitating toward transparent investment options at minimal cost. Vanguard’s new property ETF will list on the ASX AQUA platform as the lowest cost property ETF currently available for Australian investors at 0.34 per cent,” she added.
“We are committed to providing investors low cost building blocks for portfolio construction. VAP represents a new way to purchase a yield-oriented diversifier that we have successfully offered in traditional managed fund form for many years,” Vanguard chief investment officer Asia Pacific Joseph Brennan said.
Vanguard is a global pioneer of indexing and leading manager of ETFs in the United States. Locally, Vanguard ETF assets recently surpassed $200 million.
Australian Property Journal
