Fixed income
VGB
Vanguard Australian Government Bond Index ETF · Vanguard
Australian government bonds — debt issued by the federal and state governments (the Bloomberg AusBond Government index) — rather than shares.
What the fee costs you
The management fee is 0.16% a year. Here’s what that works out to in dollars:
A 0.16% yearly fee works out to about $16 a year per $10,000 invested.
A rough guide based on the headline fee only. Other costs (such as brokerage or buy/sell spreads) aren’t included.
The basics
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Asset class
- Fixed income
- Number of holdings
- ~170
- Where it invests
- Australian government bonds.
- Income paid
- Quarterly
- Currency hedged
- N/A — It holds Australian-dollar bonds, so there's no foreign-currency exposure.
Its character
Among the most defensive holdings of all: it lends to Australian governments, so the risk of not being repaid is very low — the main thing that moves it is interest rates.
What to keep in mind
Government bonds carry very little credit risk, so the main driver is interest rates — the price falls when rates rise. Far steadier than shares, but not risk-free.
Figures last verified 2026-06-19against the issuer’s factsheet and PDS.