VOO vs VUG
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF against Vanguard Growth ETF.
The short answer
VUG is the growth half of the large-cap market, and 97.7% of it sits inside VOO. Which fund returned more depends on the window: VUG over three years, 88.6% against 79.9%, VOO over five, 85.6% against 79.0%.
The two funds
- Last close, 2026-09-04
- $708.01 -0.38%
- Cost per year
- 0.03%
- Return, 1 year
- 20.4%higher
- Return, 3 years
- 79.9%
- Worst fall, 3 years
- -16.7%shallower
- Volatility
- 14.3%calmer
- Positions
- 503
- Top 10 weight
- 37.7%
- Last close, 2026-09-04
- $88.45 -0.48%
- Cost per year
- 0.03%
- Return, 1 year
- 15.2%
- Return, 3 years
- 88.6%higher
- Worst fall, 3 years
- -21.8%
- Volatility
- 19.4%
- Positions
- 146
- Top 10 weight
- 63.8%
VOO and VUG, prices through 2026-09-04. How the badges are decided.
Holdings overlap
121 companies sit in both funds. That is 57.4% of VOO's own weight and 97.7% of VUG's.
Side by side
Issuer files, VOO 31 Jul 2026, VUG 31 Jul 2026
What the numbers say
Half of VOO, at growth weight
VUG holds 146 companies and VOO 503, and 121 of them are in both. Almost nothing in VUG is missing from VOO, 2.3% of its weight in 25 companies such as Snowflake and Cloudflare. Seen from VOO, 57.4% of the index is in VUG's list and 42.6% is not: JPMorgan, Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon, Johnson & Johnson and Walmart are the largest of the 382 companies the growth screen leaves out.
Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, counted twice over
The shared companies are not held at the same size. Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft each weigh markedly more in VUG than in VOO, and the ten largest positions take 63.8% of VUG against 37.7% of VOO. That is what the overlap of 57.1% by weight measures: the same names, at index weight on one side and at growth weight on the other.
The window decides the winner
Over three years VUG returned 88.6% and VOO 79.9%. Over five years the order flips, 85.6% for VOO against 79.0% for VUG, and over the past year VOO led again at 20.4% against 15.2%. The concentration shows in the risk figures: VUG's volatility of 19.4% against 14.3%, and a worst fall of -21.8% against -16.7%.
Same fee, different portfolio
Both cost 0.03% a year, and VOO yields 1.04% against 0.38% for VUG. Weekly returns correlated at 0.96 over three years. A portfolio holding both is VOO with its growth half counted twice; a portfolio holding VUG alone has given up the 382 companies that make up 42.6% of the index.
Where they hold the same companies
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Overlap by weight | 57.1% |
| Share of VOO held in common with VUG | 57.4% |
| Share of VUG held in common with VOO | 97.7% |
| Companies in both | 121 |
| Positions in VOO / VUG | 503 / 146 |
VOO holdings as published 2026-07-31, VUG 2026-07-31.
Largest positions held by both
| Rank | Company | In VOO | In VUG | Weight in each | Overlap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVDA NVIDIA Corp. | 7.56% | 12.84% | 7.56% | |
| 2 | AAPL Apple Inc. | 7.05% | 12.63% | 7.05% | |
| 3 | MSFT Microsoft Corp. | 5.37% | 9.61% | 5.37% | |
| 4 | AMZN Amazon.com Inc. | 4.13% | 5.16% | 4.13% | |
| 5 | GOOGL Alphabet Inc. Class A | 3.25% | 5.81% | 3.25% | |
| 6 | AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 2.87% | 4.47% | 2.87% | |
| 7 | GOOG Alphabet Inc. Class C | 2.62% | 4.64% | 2.62% | |
| 8 | META Facebook Inc. Class A | 1.9% | 3.41% | 1.9% | |
| 9 | LLY Eli Lilly & Co. | 1.41% | 2.72% | 1.41% | |
| 10 | TSLA Tesla Inc. | 1.36% | 2.45% | 1.36% | |
| 11 | AMD Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | 1.21% | 2.17% | 1.21% | |
| 12 | V Visa Inc. Class A | 0.93% | 1.66% | 0.93% | |
| 13 | MA Mastercard Inc. Class A | 0.72% | 1.28% | 0.72% | |
| 14 | COST Costco Wholesale Corp. | 0.66% | 1.19% | 0.66% | |
| 15 | AMAT Applied Materials Inc. | 0.63% | 1.14% | 0.63% |
Held by only one of them
| In VOO only | Weight | In VUG only | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 1.47% | SNOW Snowflake Inc. | 0.29% |
| BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class B | 1.46% | NET Cloudflare Inc. Class A | 0.27% |
| MU Micron Technology Inc. | 1.44% | SPCX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Class A | 0.19% |
| XOM ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. | 1.0% | BE Bloom Energy Corp. Class A | 0.17% |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 0.96% | WCN Waste Connections Inc. | 0.14% |
| WMT Walmart Inc. | 0.76% | RKLB Rocket Lab Corp. | 0.12% |
| CSCO Cisco Systems Inc. | 0.71% | LPLA LPL Financial Holdings Inc. | 0.1% |
| ABBV AbbVie Inc. | 0.69% | MDB MongoDB Inc. | 0.09% |
| BAC Bank of America Corp. | 0.63% | ALNY Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 0.09% |
| UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc. | 0.58% | CRWV CoreWeave Inc. Class A | 0.09% |
Covariance and correlation
Covariance, annualised (%2)
| VOO | VUG | |
|---|---|---|
| VOO | 204 | 265.7 |
| VUG | 265.7 | 376 |
Percent squared per year, three years of weekly returns
Correlation, 3 years
| VOO | VUG | |
|---|---|---|
| VOO | 1.00 | 0.96almost always in step |
| VUG | 0.96almost always in step | 1.00 |
Weekly total returns, what the bands mean
Check it: 265.7 divided by (14.3 × 19.4) is 0.96, the correlation in the second matrix.
One year, side by side
Cost, returns and risk
| Measure | VOO | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| Dividend yield | 1.04% | 0.38% |
| Total return, 1 year | 20.4% | 15.2% |
| Total return, 3 years cumulative | 79.9% | 88.6% |
| Total return, 5 years cumulative | 85.6% | 79.0% |
| Volatility, annualised on 3 years of weekly returns | 14.3% | 19.4% |
| Worst fall in 3 years, peak to trough, weekly closes | -16.7% | -21.8% |
| Beta against the S&P 500 | 0.99 | 1.28 |
| Positions held | 503 | 146 |
| Weight in the ten largest positions | 37.7% | 63.8% |
| Weight in the single largest position | 7.6% | 12.8% |
| Assets (Vanguard: whole fund, all share classes) | $1.74T | $379.4B |
Prices through 2026-09-04.
Year by year
| Year | VOO | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 13.6% | 9.0% |
| 2025 | 17.8% | 19.4% |
| 2024 | 25.0% | 32.7% |
| 2023 | 26.3% | 46.8% |
| 2022 | -18.2% | -33.2% |
Do they move together
| Window | Correlation of weekly returns |
|---|---|
| 1 year | 0.95 |
| 3 years | 0.96 |
| 5 years | 0.96 |
Where to go next
- VOO, the full page: every holding, and what else it duplicates
- VUG, the full page
- VT vs VTI
- QQQM vs SCHG
- RSP vs SPY
- Run the x-ray on your whole portfolio, this pair included
- Check any other pair in the overlap calculator
How these numbers are produced · Ask the same questions from your assistant
