TickerInside

SCHG vs VUG

Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF against Vanguard Growth ETF.

View as Markdown What changed
Overlap
74.3%
91 companies in both
mostly the same names
Correlation
0.99
weekly returns, 3 years
almost always in step
Cheaper
VUG
0.03% against 0.04%
Higher, 3 years
SCHG
89.8% against 88.6%
Fell less
VUG
-21.8% against -21.9%

The short answer

Two large-cap growth funds built from different index families, moving together at 0.99 over three years. VUG puts 63.8% in its ten largest positions against 51.7% for SCHG, and charges 0.03% against 0.04%.

The two funds

SCHG
Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF
Last close, 2026-09-04
$35.53 -0.86%
Cost per year
0.04%
Return, 1 year
15.8%higher
Return, 3 years
89.8%higher
Worst fall, 3 years
-21.9%
Volatility
19.0%calmer
Positions
196
Top 10 weight
51.7%
VUG
Vanguard Growth ETF
Last close, 2026-09-04
$88.45 -0.48%
Cost per year
0.03%cheaper
Return, 1 year
15.2%
Return, 3 years
88.6%
Worst fall, 3 years
-21.8%shallower
Volatility
19.4%
Positions
146
Top 10 weight
63.8%

SCHG and VUG, prices through 2026-09-04. How the badges are decided.

Holdings overlap

74.3%

91 companies sit in both funds. That is 84.3% of SCHG's own weight and 86.6% of VUG's.

Side by side

Cost per yearlower is better
SCHG0.04%
VUG0.03%
Return, 1 yearhigher is better
SCHG15.8%
VUG15.2%
Return, 3 yearshigher is better
SCHG89.8%
VUG88.6%
Worst fall, 3 yearsshallower is better
SCHG-21.9%
VUG-21.8%
Volatilitycalmer is better
SCHG19%
VUG19.4%
Top 10 weight
SCHG51.7%
VUG63.8%
SCHG against VUG, each pair of bars on a shared scale, prices through 2026-09-04.
Each bar is one whole fund, cut at the share it holds in common with the other. 74.3% of their weight is held in common, in the 91 companies both own.

What the numbers say

Different index families, nearly the same fund

SCHG follows a Dow Jones growth index and VUG a CRSP one, and the two methods agree on 91 companies that carry 84.3% of SCHG and 86.6% of VUG. Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet lead both lists. The overlap by weight is 74.3%, held back by VUG weighting those top names more heavily.

The 251 companies between them

SCHG holds 105 companies VUG does not, UnitedHealth, Thermo Fisher, Linde, Salesforce and Disney the largest, names one method scores as growth and the other as value. VUG holds 55 that SCHG does not, led by Applied Materials, Lam Research, Oracle, Amphenol and McDonald's. VUG runs 146 positions to SCHG's 196, with 63.8% in its top ten against 51.7%.

Where five years separated them

Over three years the returns were nearly identical, 89.8% for SCHG against 88.6% for VUG, and over one year 15.8% against 15.2%. Over five years SCHG returned 87.5% against 79.0%, the one window where the two lists produced a visibly different result. Volatility of 19.0% against 19.4% and worst falls of -21.9% against -21.8% are within a fraction of a point of each other.

Correlation of 0.99, a fee gap of $1

VUG charges 0.03% and SCHG 0.04%, $1 a year on $10,000. Weekly returns correlated at 1.00 over five years and 0.99 over the past year. Holding both is one growth portfolio with the top names weighted somewhere between the two methods; the measurable differences are the 25.7% of weight not held in common and the fee.

Where they hold the same companies

MeasureValue
Overlap by weight74.3%
Share of SCHG held in common with VUG84.3%
Share of VUG held in common with SCHG86.6%
Companies in both91
Positions in SCHG / VUG196 / 146

SCHG holdings as published 2026-09-03, VUG 2026-07-31.

Largest positions held by both

RankCompanyIn SCHGIn VUGWeight in eachOverlap
1 NVDA NVIDIA 10.99% 12.84% 10.99%
2 AAPL Apple 9.57% 12.63% 9.57%
3 MSFT Microsoft 7.52% 9.61% 7.52%
4 AMZN Amazon Com Inc 5.03% 5.16% 5.03%
5 GOOGL Alphabet 3.99% 5.81% 3.99%
6 AVGO Broadcom Inc 3.36% 4.47% 3.36%
7 GOOG Alphabet 3.18% 4.64% 3.18%
8 LLY Eli Lilly 2.92% 2.72% 2.72%
9 META 2.67% 3.41% 2.67%
10 TSLA Tesla Inc 2.42% 2.45% 2.42%
11 AMD Advanced Micro Devices 2.29% 2.17% 2.17%
12 V Visa 2.41% 1.66% 1.66%
13 MA Mastercard 1.81% 1.28% 1.28%
14 COST Costco Wholesale Corp 1.57% 1.19% 1.19%
15 NFLX Netflix 1.33% 0.86% 0.86%

Held by only one of them

In SCHG onlyWeightIn VUG onlyWeight
UNH Unitedhealth Group Inc1.4% AMAT Applied Materials Inc.1.14%
TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc0.88% LRCX Lam Research Corp.1.03%
LIN Linde PLC0.85% ORCL Oracle Corp.0.64%
CRM Salesforce0.83% APH Amphenol Corp. Class A0.57%
DIS Walt Disney0.71% MCD McDonald's Corp.0.55%
BLK Blackrock0.62% STX Seagate Technology Holdings plc0.55%
SPGI S&P Global0.52% WDC Western Digital Corp.0.54%
DHR Danaher0.51% INTC Intel Corp.0.52%
PGR Progressive0.5% SNDK Sandisk Corp.0.51%
PH Parker-Hannifin Corp0.47% TJX TJX Cos. Inc.0.5%

Covariance and correlation

Covariance, annualised (%2)

SCHGVUG
SCHG361366.4
VUG366.4376

Percent squared per year, three years of weekly returns

Correlation, 3 years

SCHGVUG
SCHG1.000.99almost always in step
VUG0.99almost always in step1.00

Weekly total returns, what the bands mean

Check it: 366.4 divided by (19.0 × 19.4) is 0.99, the correlation in the second matrix.

One year, side by side

SCHG 114 VUG 113
2025-09-122026-09-04
Both rebased to 100 a year ago, weekly closes.

Cost, returns and risk

MeasureSCHGVUG
Expense ratio0.04%0.03%
Dividend yield0.37%0.38%
Total return, 1 year15.8%15.2%
Total return, 3 years cumulative89.8%88.6%
Total return, 5 years cumulative87.5%79.0%
Volatility, annualised on 3 years of weekly returns19.0%19.4%
Worst fall in 3 years, peak to trough, weekly closes-21.9%-21.8%
Beta against the S&P 5001.261.28
Positions held196146
Weight in the ten largest positions51.7%63.8%
Weight in the single largest position11.0%12.8%
Assets (Vanguard: whole fund, all share classes)$63.0B$379.4B

Prices through 2026-09-04.

Year by year

YearSCHGVUG
2026 9.2% 9.0%
2025 17.5% 19.4%
2024 35.0% 32.7%
2023 50.1% 46.8%
2022 -31.8% -33.2%

Do they move together

WindowCorrelation of weekly returns
1 year0.99
3 years0.99
5 years1.00

Where to go next

How these numbers are produced · Ask the same questions from your assistant