Which Is the Better Vanguard Large-Cap ETF, VOOG's Focus on the S&P 500 or VONG's Russell 1000?

Robert Izquierdo, The Motley Fool

Mon, May 4, 2026 astatine 9:31 AM CDT 4 min read

The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NASDAQ:VONG) offers a broader vulnerability to the large-cap maturation conception with a somewhat little disbursal ratio than the much concentrated Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:VOOG).

Both funds people the U.S. large-cap maturation sector, providing investors with vulnerability to fast-growing companies that typically reinvest net alternatively than paying precocious dividends. While the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF focuses connected the maturation components of the S&P 500, the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF tracks a wider scale of the apical 1,000 U.S. companies, offering a antithetic instrumentality connected the maturation factor.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months. Dividend output is the trailing-12-month organisation yield.

The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF is somewhat much affordable for semipermanent holders with an disbursal ratio of 0.06%, compared to 0.07% for the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF. Investors looking for existent income whitethorn find the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF much appealing, arsenic it offers a somewhat higher trailing-12-month organisation output of 0.54%, whereas its Russell-indexed counterpart provides a 0.51% yield.

Performance & hazard examination

What's wrong

The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF holds 387 stocks, offering broader diversification crossed the large-cap maturation universe. Its assemblage tilt includes 50% successful technology, 13% successful user cyclical, and 12% successful connection services. Top holdings see NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 12.90%, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) astatine 11.61%, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 8.80%. Launched successful 2010, the money has a trailing-12-month dividend of $0.56 per share. This portfolio includes galore mid-cap maturation names that autumn extracurricular the accepted S&P 500 criteria.

The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF is much concentrated with 144 holdings, focusing strictly connected the maturation tier of the S&P 500 index. Also launched successful 2010, it has paid $1.72 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months. Its assemblage weights are 48% successful technology, 17% successful connection services, and 10% successful fiscal services. Its largest positions see NVIDIA astatine 14.60%, Microsoft astatine 9.47%, and Apple astatine 6.42%. Because it draws from a narrower excavation of companies, its apical positions often bid a larger stock of the full assets nether absorption (AUM).