ETF Evaluator: Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) Follow This ETF

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF Overview

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) is a passively managed Sector Equity Consumer Cyclical exchange-traded fund (ETF). Vanguard launched the ETF in 2004.

The investment seeks to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Index/Consumer Discretionary 25/50. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small U.S. companies within the consumer discretionary sector, as classified under the GICS. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.

About Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.36 years: Aaron Choi (2025) and Chris Nieves (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI US Investable Market 2500 NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI US IMI/Consumer Discr 25-50 GR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has 288 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 57.6% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has 2.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.5% There is 2.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $6 billion in total assets, which is above the $1 billion average for the Consumer Cyclical category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VCR Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Consumer Cyclical category. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has an expense ratio of 0.09%, which is 79% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 6%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.2 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 29% for the Consumer Cyclical category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF returned -1.1%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Consumer Cyclical category had an average return of 1.8%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has a trailing yield of 0.72%, which is below the 1.06% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 1.1%, 1.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 10.2% over the past year (grade of B), 12.8% over the past three years (grade of C) and 5.7% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 13.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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