Key highlights

  • ASX:VAE holds 1,790 companies from across Asia, excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
  • Taiwan (28.74%), China (23.68%), South Korea (21.91%) and India (13.96%) are the largest country weights.
  • The fund has about $759.40 million in assets and a 0.40% management fee.

The Vanguard FTSE Asia ex Japan Shares Index ETF (ASX:VAE) is a broad index fund that gives investors exposure to companies across Asia, excluding Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The fund aims to hold or be exposed to most of the securities in its index.

About the Fund

VAE was admitted to the ASX on 11 December 2015 and is classified in the Equity Asia Pacific without Japan category. Its benchmark is the FTSE Asia Pacific ex Japan, Australia and New Zealand Net Return Index in Australian dollars. Individual security weightings may vary marginally from the index, and the fund may be exposed to securities that have been removed from, or are expected to be included in, the index.

The fund has about $759.40 million in assets. Its management fee is 0.40%.

Country exposure

The largest country allocation is Taiwan at 28.74%, followed by China at 23.68%. The remaining exposure is spread across South Korea (21.91%), India (13.96%), Hong Kong (3.67%), Singapore (3.47%), Thailand (1.33%), Malaysia (1.37%), Indonesia (0.65%) and the United States (0.6%).

Almost all of the portfolio is invested in equities (98.87%), and 99.57% of it is in companies with a market value above $1 billion.

Portfolio holdings

The portfolio holds 1790 companies, with top ten holdings making up 37.51% of the fund. The largest positions are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (14.78%), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (7.04%), SK hynix Inc (5.44%), Tencent Holdings Ltd (2.9%) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (2.21%).

The fund’s broad holding count means that, after the largest positions, each remaining holding is under 1.5% of the portfolio, including MediaTek, DBS Group, Delta Electronics and China Construction Bank.

Understanding the exposure

The five largest positions add up to 32.37% of the fund, which shows how much of the exposure rests on a small number of names. The remaining 1780 holdings share the other 62.49% of the portfolio, an average of about 0.04% each. Exposure is spread across 10 countries or regions, and the three largest allocations (Taiwan, China and South Korea) together account for 74.33% of the portfolio.

Fees, size and distributions

The fund distributes quarterly. The most recent distribution was an interim distribution of $0.664 per unit, with an ex-date of 1 October 2026 and payment on 16 October 2026, and the reported annual yield is 1.42%.

Fund structure and reporting

VAE has an ISIN of AU000000VAE1 and a head office at Level 13, 130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Recent ASX announcements from the fund include an outstanding securities notice for September 2026, a distribution tax estimate, details of the distribution reinvestment plan and final distribution notices.

Equity Asia Pacific without Japan funds invest in companies from the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan. Asia Pacific securities typically account for at least 75% of the portfolio, and the portfolio may include stocks from emerging markets in the region.

Units in VAE are quoted on the ASX and can be bought and sold through a broker during trading hours, in the same way as shares, so the exposure described above is available without buying each holding separately. The fund follows a rules-based index, so its holdings and weightings are set by the index methodology and adjusted when the index is rebalanced.