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Is VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT - Free Report) made its debut on 04/24/2012, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $15.22 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. MOAT, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.
The Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index tracks the overall performance of the 20 most attractively priced companies with sustainable competitive advantages.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.47% for MOAT, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.28%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For MOAT, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 29% of the portfolio --while Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Teradyne Inc (TER) accounts for about 3.13% of the fund's total assets, followed by Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) and Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 28.62% of MOAT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, MOAT has added roughly 6.89%, and is up roughly 5.58% in the last one year (as of 09/23/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $76.53 and $99.21.
MOAT has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 18.13% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 56 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $665.29 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $761.6 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VOO changes 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend
Bottom Line
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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Is VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT - Free Report) made its debut on 04/24/2012, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $15.22 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. MOAT, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.
The Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index tracks the overall performance of the 20 most attractively priced companies with sustainable competitive advantages.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.47% for MOAT, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.28%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For MOAT, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 29% of the portfolio --while Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Teradyne Inc (TER) accounts for about 3.13% of the fund's total assets, followed by Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) and Monolithic Power Systems Inc (MPWR).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 28.62% of MOAT's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, MOAT has added roughly 6.89%, and is up roughly 5.58% in the last one year (as of 09/23/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $76.53 and $99.21.
MOAT has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 18.13% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 56 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $665.29 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $761.6 billion. SPY has an expense ratio of 0.09% and VOO changes 0.03%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend
Bottom Line
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.