Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/26/2004.

The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $162.58 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Growth

Large cap companies usually have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Considered a more stable option, large cap companies boast more predictable cash flows and are less volatile than their mid and small cap counterparts.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.04%, making it the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.48%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 49.10% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Telecom round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL) accounts for about 11.60% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 56.57% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

VUG seeks to match the performance of the CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index represents the growth companies of the CRSP US Large Cap Index.

The ETF has lost about -0.63% so far this year and was up about 15.67% in the last one year (as of 05/22/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $329.49 and $428.11.

The ETF has a beta of 1.18 and standard deviation of 23% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 167 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.