The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Vanguard Australian Shares (VAS) in 2010?
Vanguard's flagship ASX-300 fund spent its first full year going almost nowhere as Europe's debt crisis spooked markets. The most boring holding in the country was quietly assembling a decade of franked dividends and capital growth.
$100 on 2010-01-03, worth today
A$305
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Vanguard Australian Shares (VAS) bought at 2010's open (A$35.89) is worth A$305 — 3.05×.
total return · dividends reinvested · AUD
How much would $100 of Vanguard Australian Shares (VAS) bought in 2010 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| A$100 | A$305 | 3.05× |
| A$1,000 | A$3,049 | 3.05× |
| A$10,000 | A$30,493 | 3.05× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did Vanguard Australian Shares (VAS) do in 2010?
Opened
A$35.89
2010-01-03
Peaked
A$36.94
2010-04-15
Bottomed
A$31.03
2010-07-02
Closed
A$35.40
2010-12-30
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
A$85,900 deployed as $100 a week from 2010-01-03, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | A$261,938 |
| Steady weekly buys | A$182,633 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | A$172,462 |
| Traded it perfectly | A$188,987 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
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