Topic: How To Invest

Hi, Pat: Your impressions on Vanguard’s Health Care ETF and U.S. Total Market Index ETF would be appreciated. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Vanguard Health Care ETF, $128.42, symbol VHT on New York (Units outstanding: 33.7 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; www.vanguard.com), holds 48 U.S. health care stocks. Its top holdings are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck & Co., Gilead Sciences, Amgen, AbbVie, UnitedHealth Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene and Biogen Idec. The fund has a low 0.12% MER and a 1.0% dividend yield. Vanguard Health Care ETF is okay to hold. A: The U.S. Total Market Index ETF, $35.87, symbol VUN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 10.3 million; Market cap: $368.5 million; www.vanguardcanada.ca), aims to track the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) U.S. Total Market Index. This index consists of nearly 4,000 stocks that represent almost all publicly traded U.S. companies. The ETF has a 0.17% MER and yields 1.5%. The index’s 10 highest-weighted stocks are Apple, Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Berkshire Hathaway and Procter & Gamble. The U.S. Total Market Index ETF is okay to hold. hold. …