This Vanguard ETF Has Weathered Every Recession in Its History

There have been two recessions over the past 20 years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and this Vanguard exchange-traded fund (ETF) has outperformed the market in both.

The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (NYSEMKT: VDC) is one of Vanguardʻs oldest ETFs, launched in January 2004. It has been one of Vanguardʻs best performers throughout the two recessions since then -- the Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009 and the COVID-19 recession from February through April 2020.

It also beat the market during the 2022 bear market, which saw two straight quarters of negative GDP growth but was not officially designated a recession by the NBER because it did not meet its strict criteria.Continue reading