Key highlights

  • VLC holds 19 large Australian companies, with its top 10 holdings making up 86.20% of the fund.
  • Financial Services is 46.21% of the fund, compared with a category average of 30.04%, and BHP is the largest holding at 20.38%.
  • The fund size is $306.85 million, the management fee is 0.20% and its annual yield is shown as 3.36%.

Large-cap Australian index ETFs focus on the biggest companies in the share market, which means a small number of names can account for most of the portfolio. The Vanguard MSCI Australian Large Companies Index ETF (ASX:VLC) is one of the longest-running examples. It was admitted to the ASX on 26 May 2011, is classified by Morningstar as Equity Australia Large Blend and uses the MSCI Australia Large Cap GR USD index as its benchmark.

This article describes the exposure VLC provides, using its ASX fund page, including its sector and size breakdowns, its largest holdings, its fee and its distributions. It contains no return data or advice.

What the fund is designed to do

The MSCI Australian Shares Large Cap Index, which the fund tracks, targets coverage of around 70% of the free float-adjusted market capitalisation of the Australian share market. That means it holds only the largest companies, leaving out the mid- and small-cap segments that make up the remaining 30%.

The fund held 19 companies, which is a small number compared with broad Australian share ETFs, and its turnover ratio was 4.73%. Its beta is 1.16 and its standard deviation 13.32. The fund size is $306.85 million with 3,438,867 units outstanding, and its average daily volume is 5,158 units.

Sector allocation

By Morningstar sector, VLC’s largest weightings are Financial Services (46.21%), Basic Materials (26.25%), and Consumer Cyclical (7.86%). Relative to its Morningstar category average, the fund holds a higher share in Financial Services (46.21 vs 30.04%). It holds a lower share than the category average in Real Estate (3.58 vs 5.75%), Industrials (2.73 vs 6.74%), and Technology (0.00 vs 3.32%). The remaining listed sectors are Healthcare (5.82%), Energy (4.00%), Real Estate (3.58%), Communication Services (3.55%), Industrials (2.73%), Technology (0.00%), and Utilities (0.00%).

The fund holds no Technology or Utilities companies, because none of these sectors have companies large enough to be included in the index.

Asset mix, company size and geography

The fund is 99.99% in shares and 0.01% in cash. All of the fund, 100.00%, is in companies above $1 billion, compared with 92.40% for the category. All of the fund, 100.00%, is also in Australia, compared with 94.32% in the category.

Top holdings

The ten largest holdings make up 86.20% of the fund, with 13.80% across the other nine. They are BHP Group (ASX:BHP) at 20.38%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) at 16.66%, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) at 8.05%, Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) at 7.91%, ANZ Group (ASX:ANZ) at 7.62%, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) at 5.91%, CSL (ASX:CSL) at 5.81%, Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) at 5.73%, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) at 4.09% and Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) at 3.99%.

BHP and Commonwealth Bank together make up 37.04% of the fund, which means those two companies have a large influence on its exposure.

Distributions

VLC pays distributions quarterly. The most recent was an interim distribution of $1.308 per unit, with an ex-date of 1 October 2026, a record date of 2 October 2026 and a payment date of 16 October 2026. Earlier distributions were $0.266 in July 2026, $0.796 in April 2026, $0.633 in January 2026 and $1.133 in October 2025. The page lists an annual yield of 3.36%.

Fund snapshot and recent filings

On the ASX page, VLC showed a last price of $89.42, up $0.18 or 0.21%, a bid-offer range of $88.00 to $89.99, a day range of $89.13 to $89.70 and a trading volume of 4,490 units. The management fee is 0.20% and the ISIN is AU000000VLC2. Its head office is at Level 13, 130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Recent announcements include the outstanding securities report for September 2026 on 7 October, a distribution tax estimate on 5 October, the distribution reinvestment plan notice and the final distributions announcement on 2 October and an updated estimated distribution on 1 October 2026.

Concentration is the main characteristic of VLC’s exposure. With 19 companies and 86.20% of the fund in its ten largest holdings, the portfolio’s sector weights are heavily influenced by a few companies: financials account for 46.21% largely because of the four major banks and Macquarie Group, and basic materials for 26.25% largely because of BHP and Rio Tinto. This is a result of the index’s large-cap focus rather than an active decision by the fund.

What VLC’s exposure adds up to

VLC provides concentrated large-cap exposure to 19 Australian companies, with heavy weights in banks and BHP and no technology or utilities exposure. It carries a 0.20% management fee and pays quarterly distributions.