Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF Shares (NYSE: VUG) employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, a broadly diversified index predominantly made up of growth stocks of large U.S. companies. The advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index.
Fund Overview
- Net Assets: 252.29 Billion
- NAV: 356.12
- PE Ratio: 42.87
- Yield: 0.50%
- YTD Daily Total Return: 14.88%
- Expense Ratio: 0.04%
The Vanguard Growth ETF charges 0.04% annually, providing investors with a low-cost option to invest in large-cap growth stocks. And at $252.29 billion in assets under management, it’s one of the biggest growth ETFs you can buy.
This fund tracks the performance of the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index, which classifies growth stocks using six factors, including three-year historical growth in earnings per share and sales per share, as well as return on assets. The result is a diversified group of 200 large-cap growth stocks with a median market capitalization of $1.2 trillion. In other words, the average VUG holding is a mega-cap stock.
Tech stocks account for nearly 60% of the fund’s total net assets, with consumer discretionary stocks the next highest sector weighting at 17%. VUG’s top 10 holdings make up 60% of the fund’s total net assets and are led by Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Top 10 Holdings (59.46% of Total Assets)
| Name | Symbol | % Assets |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc | AAPL | 12.90% |
| Microsoft Corp | MSFT | 12.40% |
| NVIDIA Corp | NVDA | 10.91% |
| Amazon.com Inc | AMZN | 4.88% |
| Meta Platforms Inc Class A | META | 4.16% |
| Alphabet Inc Class A | GOOGL | 4.02% |
| Alphabet Inc Class C | GOOG | 3.30% |
| Eli Lilly and Co | LLY | 2.75% |
| Tesla Inc | TSLA | 2.52% |
| Visa Inc Class A | V | 1.63% |
The growth characteristics are apparent. The portfolio’s typical stock has averaged a 22% earnings growth over the past five years – and they’re priced like it, trading at 37 times earnings and 10.9 times book value. VUG, whose annual turnover is very low at 5%, has averaged an annualized total return of 17.9% over the past decade. Therefore, VUG is the best growth ETF to own for long-term.