Two nearly identical Vanguard growth ETFs are posting returns that differ by five full percentage points this year, and the cheaper one is losing. The reason has nothing to do with fees.
The Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:VUG) is known for its ultra-low fee.
On July 29, 2026, Vanguard swapped the benchmark behind the Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:VUG) from the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index to the Morningstar US Large Cap Growth Index.
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The fund described focuses primarily on investment strategies that aim at mirroring the performance of a carefully selected stock index, which is characterized by a broad diversification and a predominant composition of large U.S. companies displaying growth characteristics. The investment approach is centered around indexing, with the advisor committing to investing a significant portion, if not all, of the fund's assets into the constituents of the target index. This is done in a manner that each stock within the fund's portfolio is held in nearly the same proportion as its representation in the said index. Such a method attempts to ensure that the fund's performance closely aligns with that of the index it tracks.
The fund offers a singular, focused product characterized by an indexing investment strategy. Below are the details of this product:
This approach is defined by the fund's strategy to replicate the performance of a predetermined index. This index is specifically chosen for its broad diversification and inclusion of growth stocks from large U.S. companies. By investing all or significantly all of its assets in the stocks that constitute the index, and maintaining each stock in proportion to its weighting within the index, the fund seeks to achieve performance parallel to that of the index it tracks.