5 Best Retail ETFs To Buy

2. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VCR)

5-Year Share Price Performance as of April 1: 78.98%

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VCR) ranks 2nd on our list of the best retail ETFs. The fund aims to replicate the performance of an index measuring the investment return of consumer discretionary sector stocks. It utilizes passive management, and invests in companies producing products and offering services that consumers purchase on a discretionary basis. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VCR)’s expense ratio is 0.10% and its net assets amounted to $6.3 billion as of February 29, 2024. The ETF’s portfolio comprises 306 stocks. 

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is one of the top holdings of Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE:VCR). On March 26, Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE:NOVA) formed an exclusive partnership with The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) to offer solar and battery storage services in Home Depot stores across the United States. 

According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 70 hedge funds were bullish on The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), compared to 76 funds in the prior quarter. 

ClearBridge Sustainability Leaders Strategy made the following comment about The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:

“The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) has long been a leader in advancing sustainable forestry, and its wood products can have a significant impact, as timber rates at the top of high-risk commodities responsible for most agriculture-related deforestation (Exhibit 3). The home improvement retailer adopted its first wood purchasing policy in 1999, pledging to give preference to sustainably sourced wood and to eliminate wood purchases from endangered regions around the world.

Biodiversity-boosting efforts at Home Depot have included tracing the origin of all the wood products it sells. This forms part of the process of verifying sustainable production, which it does using the certification standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Since 2000 Home Depot has developed programs to purchase FSC wood products, such as doors, boards and patio furniture, from over 60 global suppliers. It has also moved more than 90% of its cedar purchases to second-and third-growth forests, with the rest coming from areas with local community stakeholder review.”