Fund Evaluator:

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm Overview

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm (VDADX) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend fund. Vanguard launched the fund in 2013.

The investment seeks to track the performance of the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index that measures the investment return of common stocks of companies that have a record of increasing dividends over time. The adviser employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, which consists of common stocks of companies that have a record of increasing dividends over time. The adviser attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.

About Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm (VDADX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.36 years: Kenny Narzikul (2025), Jena Stenger (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: DJ US Total Stock Market TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P US Dividend Growers TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has 341 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 32.9% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has 0.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 98.1%. There is 0.9% 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 Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has 0.5% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $19 billion in total assets, which is above the $6 billion average for the Large Blend 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.

VDADX 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 Dividend Appreciation Index Adm expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Large Blend category. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has an expense ratio of 0.07%, which is 91% 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 Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has a portfolio turnover rate of 8%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 48% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm returned 1.3%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Large Blend category had an average return of -0.2%. 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 funds in that category.

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Adm has a trailing yield of 1.49%, which is above the 0.56% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

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 Dividend Appreciation Index Adm Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 8.6%, 0.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 17.5% over the past year (grade of D), 15.4% over the past three years (grade of F) and 10.9% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 13.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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