Key Highlights

  • The fund tracks the FTSE Australia High Dividend Yield Index and holds 96 companies.
  • The top ten holdings account for 61.74%, and Financial Services is 38.40% of the fund.
  • The management fee is 0.25% and the fund size is $8.07 billion.
  • The October 2026 distribution of $1.201 is higher than the $1.096 paid in October 2025.

Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX:VHY) holds or is exposed to most of the securities in the FTSE Australia High Dividend Yield Index, allowing individual weightings to vary marginally. The fund was admitted to the ASX on 26 May 2011 and last traded at $84.05 on 13 October 2026. It reports a fund size of $8.07 billion.

Detail

Information

Ticker

ASX:VHY

Fund

Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF

Category

Australia Equity Income

Benchmark

FTSE Australia High Dividend Yld TR AUD

Fund size

$8.07 billion

Management fee

0.25%

Total holdings

96

ASX admission date

26 May 2011

Concentration in large dividend payers

The ten largest positions account for 61.74% of the fund, more concentrated than the broader ASX 200 and ASX 300 funds. BHP Group leads at 10.40%, followed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (9.48%), National Australia Bank (6.12%), Westpac (6.10%) and ANZ Group (5.80%).

Rio Tinto (5.60%), Woodside Energy (5.31%), Macquarie Group (4.52%), Telstra Group (4.51%) and Transurban Group (3.85%) complete the list. Australia accounts for 99.67% of the fund.

Sector weightings

Financial Services holds 38.40% against 34.74% for the category, and Basic Materials 22.61% against 19.72%. Energy carries 9.84%, Industrials 8.30%, Communication Services 5.60% and Healthcare 4.82%.

Technology is only 0.20% of the fund, against 1.62% for the category, and Consumer Cyclical is 2.89% against 5.85%.

Fees, risk and distributions

The management fee is 0.25% a year. The fund reports a beta of 0.79, a standard deviation of 10.03 and turnover of 21.52%. Cash is slightly negative at 0.37%, with stocks at 100.37%.

The interim distribution of $1.201 per unit had an ex-date of 1 October 2026, a record date of 2 October and payment on 16 October, equal to an annual yield of 3.68%. It compares with $0.406 in July, $0.811 in April, $0.658 in January and $1.096 in October 2025.

Category classification and liquidity

Morningstar places the fund in the Australia Equity Income category, which covers funds investing primarily in Australian equities that seek above-market income, either through higher-yielding stocks or derivatives, and typically show a large-cap bias.

Liquidity indicators add a further view. There are 96,650,623 units on issue, and average daily trading volume is 195,464 units. Over the five sessions from 7 to 13 October 2026, daily volume ranged from 134,100 to 171,200 units, with 171,276 recorded on 13 October while the market was still open. The bid-offer range stood at $84.03 to $84.05, and the day range at $83.36 to $84.05. These figures change through the trading day and reflect market activity rather than the fund's holdings.

Recent announcements

Vanguard lodged Outstanding Securities for September 2026 on 7 October, a Distribution Tax Estimate on 5 October, a DRP notice and Final Distributions on 2 October, and an Updated Estimated Distribution on 1 October.

Closing Perspective

VHY screens the Australian market for higher dividend yields, resulting in a portfolio where the top ten holdings represent 61.74% and Financial Services alone makes up 38.40%. Technology exposure is minimal at 0.20%. These facts describe the fund's composition and not a forecast.