It often seems like all the action in the stock market is focused on tech stocks: the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, semiconductor stocks, memory stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index has delivered about 19% year to date, 40% in the past year, and 119% in the past five years. What could compete with that?
The answer might surprise you. According to recent Vanguard research, some of the best stock market returns in the next few years might come from other parts of the market, away from tech-heavy growth stocks. The Vanguard 2026 economic and market outlook forecasts that U.S. value-oriented stocks will offer a better risk-return profile for the next five to 10 years than U.S. growth (tech) stocks.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue
One exchange-traded fund (ETF) that could deliver on that goal is the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEMKT: VYM). This fund holds only U.S. large value stocks and has outperformed the S&P 500 index year to date.
Let's look at the details of this Vanguard ETF and see if it could be a good choice for your portfolio.
Image source: Getty Images.
The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF consists of 608 U.S. stocks that tend to pay higher-than-average dividends. These are mostly not tech stocks or AI stocks. Instead, the fund focuses on large value stocks. Its top 10 holdings are mainly pharmaceutical companies, energy companies, and financial institutions.
This fund also lets you own popular blue chip stocks like JPMorgan Chase (3.34% of the fund), Johnson & Johnson (2.3%), Procter & Gamble (1.44%), and Coca-Cola (1.28%).
The ETF has delivered average annual returns (by net asset value) of 10.2% year to date, 29.5% in the past year, and 17% for the past three years. And it's an ultra-low-cost index fund -- the expense ratio is only 0.04%.
What about the dividends? The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF is accurately named: Its dividend yield is 2.24%, which is part of the reason why this ETF made The Motley Fool's list of best dividend index funds.
One possible risk with this fund's portfolio is that its top holding, Broadcom, makes up 8% of the fund's assets (as of April 30). This doesn't have to be a deal-breaker. But before buying this fund, investors should know that it has become slightly top-heavy with that one tech stock.