None of that means VOX is solely focused on large-, mega- and mid-cap companies. In fact, the ETF has a surprising amount of micro-cap exposure.
“Of the nearly 30% of VOX’s assets that are devoted to small-cap companies, a clear majority (some 25% of the fund’s total assets) is invested in micro-cap names. That has had the effect of making VOX more volatile than one might expect–and slightly more volatile than the typical large-cap fund. During the past five years, VOX has had a volatility of return of 14.3% compared with 13.4% for the S&P 500 and 16.2% for a competing iShares ETF,” according to Morningstar.
The rival iShares fund is the $571 million iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF (NYSEArca: IYZ). IYZ charges 0.43% per year, slightly more than triple the 0.14% fee on VOX.
However, VOX does face a credible threat on the fee front in the form of the Fidelity MSCI Telecommunication Services Index ETF (NYSEArca: FCOM), which charges just 0.12% per year. [Fidelity’s Rapid ETF Ascent]
“In general, the major domestic telecom ETFs have highly correlated performance. VOX’s performance has shown a 96% correlation to IYZ’s performance during the past five years,” according to Morningstar.
Vanguard Telecommunication Services ETF
