Is the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF or iShares Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF the Better Fund in 2026?

Brendan Coffey, The Motley Fool

Sat, July 25, 2026 astatine 12:47 PM CDT 5 min read

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:VOOG) offers businesslike entree to the largest U.S. maturation engines, whereas iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (NASDAQ:IJT) targets the assertive enlargement of smaller firms.

Growth investing tin instrumentality vastly antithetic forms depending connected the marketplace capitalization of the underlying companies. While some funds prioritize companies with beardown enlargement potential, they run astatine other ends of the size spectrum, ranging from trillion-dollar tech titans to nimbler small-cap players. This examination examines however these chiseled baskets power outgo structures, volatility profiles, and semipermanent full instrumentality trajectories for antithetic types of portfolios.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns implicit the disposable money past (up to 5 years). The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months. Dividend output is the trailing-12-month organisation output arsenic of the adjacent of trading connected July 23.

The 0.11 percent constituent quality successful disbursal ratios whitethorn entreaty to cost-conscious investors, arsenic the Vanguard money charges importantly little than the iShares fund. While neither strategy is chiefly designed for income, the marginal quality successful output mightiness beryllium a secondary information for some. This spread successful yearly fees tin interaction cumulative gains implicit decades, peculiarly fixed the comparatively debased dividend yields provided by some growth-focused strategies.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF is heavy concentrated successful the Technology assemblage astatine 52%, followed by Communication Services astatine 16%, and Consumer Cyclical astatine 9%. Its largest positions see Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 13.6%, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 7.8%, and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) astatine 6%. The money manages 148 holdings. It was launched successful 2010. Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF has paid $0.37 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months, which connected its caller ~$80.29 stock terms works retired to a 0.5% yield.

The iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF offers vulnerability to small-cap growth, with its portfolio allocated crossed Industrials astatine 19%, Technology astatine 18%, and Healthcare astatine 7%. Top holdings see Formfactor Inc (NASDAQ:FORM) astatine 1.4%, Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) astatine 1.3%,  and Argan Inc (NYSE:AGX) astatine 1.2%. It maintains a broader handbasket of 350 holdings. It was launched successful 2000. iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF has paid $1.21 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months, which connected its caller ~$171.73 stock terms works retired to a 0.7% yield.