VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF

VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT) is an index fund that holds about 55 mostly US companies. Morningstar's analysts judge each one to have a lasting competitive edge, or "wide moat," and to trade below its estimated fair value. Picking stocks partly on price sets it apart from a plain large-company fund. Holdings change often, and no stock made up more than 3% of assets as of June 30, 2026. Its 0.46% expense ratio is the lowest among VanEck's moat funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, MOAT returned +9.7%, 2nd of 6 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +9.5% and its 10-year +14.1%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 33.2% and regained its old high 2.5 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-13.7%); its best was 2019 (+34.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 33.3% (Feb 12, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020), recovered by Jun 8, 2020.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 55 securities; the ten largest made up 25.31% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $815.4M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +3.83%, +3.29%, +0.24%.

MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index. It normally keeps at least 80% of its assets in the index's stocks. It is a passive fund, so it tries to match the index rather than beat it. The starting pool is the Morningstar US Market Index, which covers about 97% of US stock market value. Morningstar's equity research team then picks out "wide moat" companies, meaning businesses with a durable advantage such as a strong brand or a cost edge that should keep rivals at bay for years. They use both numbers and judgment to decide.

From that group, the index keeps the companies that look most attractively priced. It ranks them by Morningstar's fair value estimate divided by the share price. As of December 31, 2025, the index held 54 stocks ranging from about $6.74 billion to $4.55 trillion in market value. Prices and fair value estimates move between index reviews, so stocks rotate in and out. Portfolio turnover was 55%, and the prospectus warns that this can raise trading costs and taxes.

As of June 30, 2026, the fund held 55 stocks. The largest were Masco (3.0%), Kenvue (2.6%), Airbnb (2.6%), Palo Alto Networks (2.5%) and Brown-Forman (2.5%). The top 10 made up 25.3% of assets. The fund held no derivatives and almost no cash. The fund can become "non-diversified" if index weights shift, which would let it put more of its money in a few companies. It can also concentrate in an industry if the index does.

• MOAT charges 0.46% a year, versus an average of 0.5% for the similar funds below (1st of 6, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.45% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $47 in the first year and $579 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It spreads money across about 55 US large and mid-sized companies in many sectors, so it can serve as a US stock core, though with a narrower, valuation-driven tilt than a broad index fund.

MOAT has not escaped sharp sell-offs. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 33.2% between February 19 and March 23, 2020, and it was back to its peak by June 8, 2020. In the 2022 bear market it dropped 22.8% from January 14 to October 12, 2022, and it recovered by February 2, 2023. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at −13.54%. The fund launched in 2012, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. Anyone who sold shares for spending money near those lows would have locked in losses, even though the recoveries were quick.

Income is modest. The trailing 12-month yield was 1.26% as of October 27, 2026, and the fund pays once a year. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost $47 over one year and $579 over 10 years. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.