Vanguard International Shares High Yield ETF (VIHY) — Review & Analysis

VIHY is Vanguard's new global income ETF for Australian investors, with $40 million in assets as at May 2026. Vanguard launched VIHY on 25 March 2026 to give investors a passive, low-cost alternative to active global income products like Plato's PGI2 (0.85% MER) and Magellan's various global income vehicles. The management fee is 0.30% per annum — the cheapest global income ETF on the ASX by a wide margin. The fund tracks the FTSE All-World ex-Australia High Dividend Yield Index, targeting approximately 500-1,000 global companies forecast to pay above-average dividends.

To compare VIHY side-by-side with every other ETF on the ASX, see the full ETF directory.

VIHY's portfolio is structurally tilted toward financials, energy, telecoms and consumer staples — the sectors where dividend yields are highest. As at May 2026, expected top holdings include Procter & Gamble, JPMorgan Chase, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Nestle, Chevron, Cisco Systems, Pfizer and Verizon. Geographic exposure is approximately 50% US, with the remainder spread across the UK (where dividend yields are structurally higher), Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Europe — meaningfully more diversified than US-only income ETFs. Too new for meaningful return data.

VIHY pays distributions quarterly (late March, June, September and December) at a higher yield than broad global ETFs. The trailing 12-month yield is expected to run around 3.5-4.5% gross — well above the ~1.5% yield of VGS. There are no franking credits — the underlying holdings are international. VIHY is currency-unhedged. The 0.30% MER vs the typical 0.85-1.00% MER of active global income funds is a meaningful long-term cost saving — over 30 years on a $100k investment, the fee gap compounds to $50-80k.

VIHY fills a real gap on the ASX — there hasn't been a low-cost passive global income ETF before. It's well-positioned for retirees who want global diversification without sacrificing yield. Pair it with VHY (Australian high-yield) for a global income tilt. Caveat: the underlying high-yield strategy systematically picks slow-growing companies in mature sectors — VIHY will underperform broad-market global ETFs in growth-led rallies. For more on dividend strategies, see The ultimate list of dividend-paying ETFs on the ASX, ranked by 5-year data.