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Moat ETF

Companies with Long-term Competitive Advantages

Discover VanEck’s Moat ETF Suite

The ETFs are based on a simple concept: Invest in companies with sustainable competitive advantages normally trading at attractive valuations. Over time, these companies seem well positioned to generate superior returns than the broader market. Morningstar’s forward-looking equity research turns the moat philosophy into an actionable investment strategy. This strategy is accessible through four ETFs from VanEck and could be considered for a US or global equity allocation.

Sources of Economic Moats Found in Our Moat ETFs

Economic moats are sustainable competitive advantages that are expected to allow companies to fend off competition and sustain profitability into the future. Morningstar has identified five sources of economic moats, reflected in this Fund.

The Philosophy Behind the Strategy

The moat investing philosophy, powered by Morningstar’s equity research, brings together its Economic Moat Rating and its forward-looking Fair Value Estimate. The combination of these two elements drives the choice of the companies included in the VanEck's Moat ETF.

Proven Long-Term Outperformance of Moat ETF

Applying Morningstar’s moat investing philosophy to global companies has historically generated excess returns relative to the broad global equity markets. Strong stock selection has been a primary driver of excess returns since 2018 for this long-term, core investment strategy.


Source: Morningstar.

Applying Morningstar’s moat investing philosophy to U.S. companies has historically generated excess returns relative to the broad U.S. equity markets.

Source: Morningstar.

U.S. Wide Moat stocks rigorously screened to reduced Sustainability risk using the data from Sustainalytics and historically generating outperformance to the broad U.S. equity markets.​

Source: Morningstar.

A focused approach to SMID (Small-Mid) cap U.S. equity investing based on a simple concept of accessing companies with long-term competitive advantages trading at attractive valuations.​

Source: Morningstar.

Morningstar Analyst Team

Morningstar’s equity research team of more than 100 analysts covers over 1,500 companies globally. More than 200 asset managers and 75,000 financial advisors rely on Morningstar’s research. All of Morningstar’s equity analysts follow a single, consistent research methodology that has been rigorously applied to determine which companies to include in VanEck's Moat ETFs.

Fundamental Analysis

Analyst conducts company and industry research, which may include financial statement analysis, trade show visits, industry reports, site visits and conference calls.

Economic Moat Rating

Analyst assesses the strength of the company’s competitive advantage, or moat, assigning a rating of None, Narrow, or Wide.

Company Valuation

Analyst considers past financial results, competitive position, and future prospects to forecast the company’s cash flows. Assumptions are entered into proprietary discounted cash flow model.

Fair Value Estimate

Using Morningstar’s proprietary discounted cash flow model, the analyst develops a Fair Value Estimate, which represents the intrinsic value of that company.

Main Risk Factors of a Moat ETF

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The value of the securities held by a Moat ETF may fall suddenly and unpredictably due to general market and economic conditions in markets in which issuers or securities held by the funds are active.

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The Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a single issuer in accordance with the requirements of the UCITS investment restrictions. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a greater impact on the fund's Net Asset Value and may make the funds more volatile than more diversified funds.

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Because all or a portion of a Moat ETF are being invested in securities denominated in foreign currencies, the fund’s exposure to foreign currencies and changes in the value of foreign currencies versus the base currency may result in reduced returns for the funds, and the value of certain foreign currencies may be subject to a high degree of fluctuation.

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