When you’re in your retirement years, it’s definitely prudent to exercise due diligence and avoid riskier, growth-fueled investments that could put your nest egg in jeopardy. However, if you’re early in the game, you can obviously dial up the risk to a higher degree with growth-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Per a Motley Fool article by Catherine Brock, here’s a fund to consider:
“Saving in an IRA or 401(k) is only half the job of securing a comfortable retirement,” the The other half is choosing investments that give you a fighting chance at growing your nest egg over time. That’s not an easy thing, given that assets with higher growth potential also come with higher risk. But if you’re still decades away from retirement, the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF (VONG) might balance risk and reward in just the right way.”
“This exchange-traded fund is designed to mimic the performance of the Russell 1000 Growth Index, which includes select growth-oriented companies from the Russell 1000,” the article added. “The Russell 1000 tracks 1,000 of the largest publicly-traded companies in the U.S., while the smaller growth index tracks about half as many positions, chosen for their higher price-to-book ratios and higher projected and historical growth rates. Comparing returns, the 10-year average annual return of the Russell 1000 Growth Index exceeds 17%, while the same measure for the complete Russell 1000 is closer to 14%.”
As far as VONG goes, the fund seeks to track the performance of the Russell 1000® Growth Index. The index is designed to measure the performance of large-capitalization growth stocks in the United States. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
The fund may become non-diversified, as defined under the Investment Company Act of 1940, solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of the index. How good has VONG been year-to-date–try an almost 30% return according to Yahoo Finance numbers.
“Having said that, adding a high-growth fund into the mix could raise your portfolio’s overall returns and boost the size of your nest egg,” the article added further.
Furthermore, VONG gives investors a cost-effective option with its low expense ratio.
“The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF has an expense ratio of 0.08% and net assets of $8.1 billion,” Brock wrote. “Its portfolio includes 450 U.S. stocks and is heavily weighted toward the technology and consumer discretionary sectors. The top 10 holdings make up nearly 46% of total net assets as of this writing.”
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.