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Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/24/2012.

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $14.38 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.47%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.85%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Healthcare sector--about 19.20% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Salesforce.com Inc (CRM) accounts for about 2.96% of total assets, followed by Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) and Equifax Inc (EFX).

The top 10 holdings account for about 27.89% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MOAT seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index before fees and expenses. The Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index tracks the overall performance of the 20 most attractively priced companies with sustainable competitive advantages.

The ETF return is roughly 1.04% so far this year and it's up approximately 17.34% in the last one year (as of 04/25/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $70.71 and $89.90.

The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 19.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, MOAT is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $437.51 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $510.33 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.