To diversify our ETF investments further, lets look at the VPL – Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund.  As the name implies, investing in the VPL is investing in the stocks of the Asia-Pacific region.  It has 2497 stocks, so buying VPL is buying a large part of all of the Asia-Pacific stocks.

People invest in international stocks like the Asia-Pacific fund to further increase their diversification.  Because, like we said, when the US stock market is down, the Asia-Pacific stocks may be up.  And that’s where VPL fits in.

It follows the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific Index All Cap Net Tax (US RIC) Index.  And it pays a healthy 2.75% dividend, which is not quite double the average dividend of US stocks.  It also has a fairly low net expense ratio of 0.07%.

So it pretty much represents a large section of the Asia-Pacific stocks, is quite low in cost, and pays a fairly nice dividend.  And it’s been around for quite a while, since 1990, so it’s very well established.

You’ll recognize a few of the top stocks in the VPL holdings.  These include Sony, Samsung, Toyota and Mitsubishi.  So adding an Asia-Pacific fund to a stock portfolio can further increase your diversification.

Indexed to: Holds stocks from the Asia-Pacific region

Expense Ratio: 0.07%

Total Assets: $8.69 billion

Annual Dividend Yield: 2.75%

P/E ratio: 11.78

Fund Inception: 06/18/1990

Top Holdings:

• n/a                Slcmt1142
• 005930.KS  Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• 7203.T         Toyota Motor Corp
• BHP.AX       BHP Group Ltd
• 1299.HK      AIA Group Ltd
• CBA.AX       Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• 6758.T         Sony Group Corp
• CSL.AX        CSL Ltd
• 6861.T         Keyence Corp
• 8306.T         Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc

So that’s the VPL – Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund.

In our next post, we’ll continue to look abroad, but at the emerging markets around the world. These are countries without fully developed economies.  But they can have much potential ahead of them, as well as a number of potentially profitable companies too.  And we just might want to invest in them.

So you’ll want to check it out when we post it.

And if you found this sample chapter from our latest book interesting, you can check it out at Exchange-Traded Funds For Beginners for free right here.