Overview
The full US materials complex — chemicals, metals, construction materials and packaging, around 114 companies of every size.
Top Holdings
| Ticker | Holding | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| LIN | Linde plc | 12.4% |
| SHW | Sherwin-Williams | 5.1% |
| NEM | Newmont Corp. | 4.9% |
| FCX | Freeport-McMoRan | 4.6% |
| ECL | Ecolab Inc. | 4.2% |
| APD | Air Products & Chemicals | 3.9% |
| CTVA | Corteva Inc. | 3.6% |
| MLM | Martin Marietta | 3.3% |
| VMC | Vulcan Materials | 3.1% |
| NUE | Nucor Corp. | 2.7% |
Fund Details
Investment Thesis
Materials are the economy's ingredients list, and the commodity supercycle is finally reaching the processors: miners riding record gold and copper, aggregates feeding the construction boom, chemicals lagging as the cyclical caboose. VAW owns the whole chain down to the mid-caps for 0.09% — the domestic-equity way to hold the inflation-and-buildout trade.
Who It's For
Sector rotators positioning for the commodity cycle's equity leg, and allocators completing an 11-sector Vanguard lineup. XLB's fuller-spectrum, cheaper cousin.
10-Year History
| Year | Close | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $107.72 | -- |
| 2017 | $131.42 | +22.0% |
| 2018 | $109.08 | -17.0% |
| 2019 | $134.17 | +23.0% |
| 2020 | $159.66 | +19.0% |
| 2021 | $199.57 | +25.0% |
| 2022 | $173.63 | -13.0% |
| 2023 | $192.73 | +11.0% |
| 2024 | $192.73 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | $212.00 | +10.0% |
| Year | Yield |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1.90% |
| 2017 | 1.70% |
| 2018 | 2.10% |
| 2019 | 1.90% |
| 2020 | 1.70% |
| 2021 | 1.40% |
| 2022 | 1.80% |
| 2023 | 1.80% |
| 2024 | 1.60% |
| 2025 | 1.50% |
| Year | AUM | % Chg |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $1.2B | -- |
| 2017 | $1.6B | +33.3% |
| 2018 | $1.7B | +6.3% |
| 2019 | $2B | +17.6% |
| 2020 | $2.4B | +20.0% |
| 2021 | $3.2B | +33.3% |
| 2022 | $2.8B | -12.5% |
| 2023 | $2.8B | +0.0% |
| 2024 | $2.7B | -3.6% |
| 2025 | $2.9B | +7.4% |
Historical figures are ETFHub estimates modelled from asset-class return patterns and may differ from official fund records. Data as of August 2026.
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