VanEck bets on ‘quality’ ETF as investors turn selective

Binaya Dahal

Journalist

2 June 2026

VanEck has launched a new Australian equities exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to capture “quality” stocks, as investors increasingly look beyond market-cap weighted indexes amid concerns about valuation and market concentration.

The $200 billion global fund manager on Monday unveiled the VanEck MSCI Australian Quality Plus ETF (ASX: AQTY), which will track 50 Australian companies selected for financial strength, profitability and valuation discipline rather than their size in the index.

Unlike traditional index funds that allocate capital based on market capitalisation, AQTY will use a purpose-built methodology developed with MSCI to identify companies with durable earnings, strong balance sheets and sensible valuations.

VanEck Asia-Pacific chief executive Arian Neiron said conventional quality investing approaches have not always translated effectively to Australia because of the market’s concentrated and cyclical nature.

“Quality investing should not just be about finding profitable companies,” he said. “In Australia, it also needs to consider whether those companies are sensibly priced and whether the portfolio is built to withstand market volatility.”

The firm said the ETF was the result of more than a decade of research into factor investing in Australian equities and seeks to address structural weaknesses in the local market.

The launch also comes as investors reassess portfolio positioning following recent Federal Budget measures, while signs of a potential shift in market leadership and elevated valuations across parts of the market have increased demand for more selective investment strategies.

In this context, VanEck added quality investing remains highly relevant, provided it is adaptable to Australia’s distinct market structure and focused on companies with strong balance sheets, resilient earnings and reasonable valuations.

“AQTY’s index uses multiple signals to identify financially sound and consistently profitable companies while limiting exposure to overvalued segments of the market,” the firm said.