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Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/09/2010.
The fund is sponsored by Vanguard. It has amassed assets over $15.15 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Large Cap Growth
Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. 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
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.07%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.58%.
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 38% of the portfolio. Telecom and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 11.88% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 38.33% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
VOOG seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P 500 Growth Index measures the performance of large-capitalization growth stocks.
The ETF has lost about -4.14% so far this year and it's up approximately 17.22% in the last one year (as of 05/06/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $299.15 and $384.99.
The ETF has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 22.16% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 213 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.