Categories: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)U.S. Investing

How You Could Utilize Vanguard’s Low-Expense-Ratio Bond Fund

This week’s ETF Talk features Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) managed by Vanguard, the low-expense-ratio ETF provider. BND is a bond fund that also ranks as one of Vanguard’s largest ETFs, with $22.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30. With an expense ratio of only 0.08%, the costs for this fund are 91% lower than the average for similar bond funds.

BND seeks to perform like a broad, market-weighted bond index. To this end, BND tracks the results of an index that represents a wide spectrum of public, investment-grade, taxable, fixed income securities in the United States, including government, corporate and international bonds, in addition to mortgage- and asset-backed securities with maturities greater than one year.

BND has made steady progress in 2014, rising 2.49% this year. This fund also offers income-oriented investors a dividend yield of 2.55%.

BND’s top 10 holdings include only 4.66% of its total assets. As a bond fund, it has no allocations to any stocks or sectors. Its second- through fifth-largest holdings are all different United States Treasury Notes, ranging from shorter-term 0.25% notes to longer-term bonds yielding 4.75%.

Bonds can be a good way to diversify a portfolio that is primarily composed of stocks, and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) may be worth consideration for investors interested in this diversity, as it combines short- and long-term bond holdings at a relatively minimal fee.

If you want my advice about buying and selling specific ETFs, including appropriate stop losses, please consider subscribing to my Successful ETF Investing newsletter. As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to send me an e-mail. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.

In case you missed it, I encourage you to read my e-letter column from last week about Vanguard’s real estate investment trust exchange-traded fund. I also invite you to comment in the space provided below.

Doug Fabian

Doug Fabian is the Editor of Weekly ETF Report, a free weekly e-newsletter, and the newsletter Successful ETF Investing. He’s also the host of the syndicated radio show, “Doug Fabian’s Wealth Strategies.” Doug also edits the fast-paced trading service ETF Trader’s Edge, for investors who want to take their profits to the next level. Taking over the reins from his dad, Dick Fabian, back in 1992, Doug has continued to uphold the reputation of the newsletter as the #1 risk-adjusted market timer as ranked by Hulbert’s Investment Digest. Doug became a member of the “SmartMoney 30” in 1999 — a listing of the most influential individuals in the mutual fund industry. In the feature, SmartMoney magazine exclaims that Doug is the best-known “trend follower” among the $56 billion (and growing) group of financial advisors. In 2001, Doug wrote “Maverick Investing,” published by McGraw-Hill. He also regularly appears at seminars around the country, stands out on the pages of the largest newspapers (The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times), and speaks on national television (CNBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg Forum). For more than 35 years, Successful ETF Investing (formerly the Telephone Switch Newsletter and Successful Investing) has produced double-digit percentage annual gains. Doug has become known for his expert knowledge and timely use of innovative tools, such as exchange-traded funds, bear funds, and enhanced-index funds to profit in any market climate. For more information about Doug’s services, go to http://www.fabian.com/