Vanguard U.S. Minimum Volatility ETF
$142.76−0.35 (−0.24%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.13%
- Fund size
- $456M
- 1Y return
- +11.1%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.75%
- Holdings
- 181
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $143.32
- 52W range
The ETF.net VFMV Grade
Score 55 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.AScore 80Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.FScore 21Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.AScore 76Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.CScore 40Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 55Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 64Category rank
Our read on VFMV
BNo index here. Vanguard's quant desk builds this one itself, running a rules-based model over large, mid and small caps to assemble the mix expected to wobble least as a portfolio, not just the calmest names one by one.
The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of U.S. stocks intended to have lower volatility than the broad U.S. equity market, while seeking long-term capital appreciation.
Why people hold it
- 0.13% a year undercuts the typical fund in the US low-volatility group.
- Fishes the whole US market, large, mid and small caps, and lands on roughly 180 names instead of a mega-cap-only defensive sleeve.advisors.vanguard.comfund-docs.vanguard.com
- The model targets the portfolio's total expected volatility, so it accounts for how holdings move together rather than ranking individually calm stocks.fund-docs.vanguard.comadvisors.vanguard.com
- Run by Vanguard's Quantitative Equity Group since the 2018 launch, with a rules-based screen for diversification and for trimming less liquid stocks.fund-docs.vanguard.com
Worth knowing
- Active, with no published index behind it. Low volatility is whatever the advisor's model says it is, so holdings can look quite different from index-built rivals like USMV.advisors.vanguard.com
- One of the smaller and thinner-traded funds in the low-vol aisle, so limit orders earn their keep on larger trades.
- Minimum volatility aims to damp swings, not to sidestep losses. It stays fully invested in stocks, and defensive names behave differently from the broad market in both directions.fund-docs.vanguard.com
VFMV Holdings
- Stocks
- 181
- 15%
- JNJ
Sectors
- Technology30.4%
- Health Care10.4%
- Communication10.3%
- Cons. Staples8.9%
- Financials8.4%
- Industrials7.2%
- Utilities6.9%
- Real Estate5.9%
- Energy5.8%
- Consumer Discr.5.8%
- Materials0.0%
Geography
- United States97.09%
- Switzerland1.26%
- Ireland0.52%
- United Kingdom0.51%
- Cayman Islands0.32%
- Bermuda0.29%
VFMV Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | VFMV |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +10.8% |
| 1 month | −1.6% |
| 3 months | +3.4% |
| 1 year | +11.1% |
| 3 years | +15.8% |
| 5 years | +9.7% |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | VFMV |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +10.8% | |
| 2025 | +10.5% | |
| 2024 | +16.9% | |
| 2023 | +8.9% | |
| 2022 | −5.7% | |
| 2021 | +20.8% | |
| 2020 | −0.2% |
VFMV in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on VFMV yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
VFMV Dividends
- 1.75%
- $2.51
- $0.41 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 23, 2026 | Pays Sep 25, 2026 | $0.34 |
| Jun 24, 2026 | Jun 26, 2026 | $0.41 |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Mar 26, 2026 | $0.46 |
| Dec 23, 2025 | Dec 26, 2025 | $1.09 |
| Sep 24, 2025 | Sep 26, 2025 | $0.55 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Jun 24, 2025 | $0.62 |
| Mar 25, 2025 | Mar 27, 2025 | $0.50 |
| Dec 23, 2024 | Dec 26, 2024 | $0.57 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.43 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jul 1, 2024 | $0.39 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 26, 2024 | $0.37 |
| Dec 19, 2023 | Dec 22, 2023 | $0.62 |
VFMV Risk
- 9.8%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.05
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −15.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.55
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
VFMV Cost
- The middle half of US Low Volatility Index funds
- Median 0.20%
3 of the 16 US Low Volatility Index funds charge less.