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Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist) (VMID.L)

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The next 250 UK companies sitting just below the FTSE 100: smaller, more homegrown, and a bumpier ride, with the income paid as cash.

£35.70
≈ 3,570p · London-listed shares are usually quoted in pence (GBX) elsewhere; the Almanac shows pounds (£1 = 100p).

Is Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist) a good fund for a UK beginner?

The honest version: The next 250 UK companies sitting just below the FTSE 100: smaller, more homegrown, and a bumpier ride, with the income paid as cash.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price+17.6%
52-week range+12% past year
£35.70
Low £31.35High £36.48
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist)
£1,176+18%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-15. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▲ +12% past year

This is a fund, so it moves with its whole basket (UK) - not any single company's news. One share having a bad day barely shows up here.

The bull case

Five years of sustained UK growth and a lasting recovery in appetite for domestic mid-caps, compounding from a low base.

The bear case

One or more UK-centred downturns over five years, with the index's higher volatility amplifying the fall and a slow recovery.

What does Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist) do?

VMID tracks the FTSE 250, the medium-sized UK firms ranked 101 to 350 by size. Unlike the FTSE 100, these companies earn far more of their money inside the UK, so this is much more of a genuine bet on the actual British economy. That home focus plus the smaller size has historically made it swing harder in both directions, so expect a livelier ride. It's 'Distributing', so the dividends land in your account as cash.

What it tracks

The next 250 UK companies below the FTSE 100 - more domestically focused medium-sized businesses, historically more UK-economy-sensitive.

OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold.
0.1%
≈ £1.00 a year per £1,000 invested
Yield: The income the fund has paid out over the past year as a percentage of its price. Accumulating funds reinvest this for you instead of paying cash.
3.4% (paid as cash)
Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way.
Distributing
income paid as cash
Holdings: Roughly how many different investments the fund spreads your money across. More holdings usually means more diversification.
250
Spread of your money
Index
FTSE 250
United Kingdom (mid-cap)
Domicile
Ireland
ISA-eligible
Replication
Physical (holds the underlying shares)
Category
UK
Where it fits in a portfolio

What's actually inside this fund?

Its 10 biggest holdings

  1. 1Balfour Beatty PLC1.4%
  2. 2easyJet PLC1.2%
  3. 3Man Group PLC1.1%
  4. 4Rightmove PLC1.1%
  5. 5JPMorgan Global Growth & Income Ord1.1%
  6. 6Plus500 Ltd1.1%
  7. 7Rosebank Industries PLC Ordinary Shares1.1%
  8. 8Johnson Matthey PLC1.1%
  9. 9Templeton Emerging Mkts Invmt Tr TEMIT1.1%
  10. 10Berkeley Group Holdings (The) PLC1.0%

The top 10 add up to about 11% of the fund. The rest is spread thinly across the fund's many other holdings.

By sector

  • Industrials20%
  • Financials18%
  • Consumer cyclical13%
  • Technology10%
  • Real estate9%
  • Communications7%
  • Materials7%
  • Consumer staples6%

Top holdings and sector split from the fund's published data as of the figures date - they drift over time as the fund and the index change.

What's strong
  • Much more genuinely 'UK economy' exposure than the FTSE 100, useful for anyone who specifically wants domestic mid-sized firms.
  • Historically a source of higher long-run growth than the FTSE 100 in good UK cycles, reflecting smaller, faster-moving companies.
  • Cheap and diversified across 250 holdings for a 0.10% ongoing charge, paying a relatively high cash income.
What to watch
  • UK-economy risk: a British recession or high-rate period hits these home-focused firms harder than global mega-caps.
  • Volatility and liquidity risk: mid-caps can fall sharply and trade less smoothly in stressed markets.
  • Interest-rate risk: smaller, more indebted companies are more sensitive to the cost of borrowing.

What do Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist)'s numbers mean?

UK-domestic exposure
~50%+ of revenue from UK
The FTSE 250 earns a far bigger slice of its money at home than the FTSE 100 does, so it is much more sensitive to UK growth, interest rates and consumer confidence, and less driven by the pound's overseas translation effect.
Volatility versus FTSE 100
historically higher
Mid-sized, more domestic companies tend to rise and fall more sharply than the mega-cap FTSE 100. Bigger potential swings work in both directions, which is why the ranges below are wider.
Dividend yield
~3.38% (paid as cash)
A relatively high income, paid out as cash since this is a distributing fund. As with all these indices the payout can move with company profits rather than being fixed.
Ongoing charge (OCF)
0.10%
The annual running cost, about £1 per £1,000 a year, taken automatically from the fund. Slightly higher than the FTSE 100 trackers, which is common for a mid-cap index.

More in UK

Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Acc)iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Dist)Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Dist)Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Acc)iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Acc)SPDR FTSE UK All Share UCITS ETF (Acc)
Appears in
Low-cost index funds & ETFs (UK)

What are the scenarios for Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist)?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£46£36£20today · £36▲ Bull · £42• Base · £38▼ Bear · £24in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+12% to +25%A recovering UK economy, falling interest rates and stronger consumer and housing activity lifting domestically-focused mid-caps; wider than the FTSE 100 because the index moves more.
Base
+2% to +9%Steady but unspectacular UK growth, with modest price gains on top of the cash dividends paid out separately.
Bear
-25% to -40%A UK recession, sticky interest rates or a domestic confidence shock hitting the mid-cap, home-focused names harder than the multinational FTSE 100.

What are the pros and cons of Vanguard FTSE 250 UCITS ETF (Dist)?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Much more genuinely 'UK economy' exposure than the FTSE 100, useful for anyone who specifically wants domestic mid-sized firms.
  • Historically a source of higher long-run growth than the FTSE 100 in good UK cycles, reflecting smaller, faster-moving companies.
  • Cheap and diversified across 250 holdings for a 0.10% ongoing charge, paying a relatively high cash income.
The catch3
  • Noticeably more volatile than the FTSE 100, so the swings, up and down, are larger and harder to sit through.
  • Its domestic focus concentrates the risk in the UK economy specifically, offering less global diversification than the FTSE 100.
  • As a distributing fund the price alone understates total return, since income is paid out rather than reinvested.
Key risks3
  • UK-economy risk: a British recession or high-rate period hits these home-focused firms harder than global mega-caps.
  • Volatility and liquidity risk: mid-caps can fall sharply and trade less smoothly in stressed markets.
  • Interest-rate risk: smaller, more indebted companies are more sensitive to the cost of borrowing.
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: high · data: GBP · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.