BUL vs VUG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Pacer US Cash Cows Growth ETF

BULDNYSE Arca

Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

VUGANYSE Arca

Overlap

2.1%by weight

Expense ratio

VUG −0.57pt a year

BUL0.60%VUG0.03%

Avg volume · 30D

VUG 671.0×the volume

BUL9.42KVUG6.32M

5Y return · a year

VUG +1.8pt

BUL+9.0%VUG+10.8%

BUL vs VUG Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+53.9%BUL+67.0%VUG

Expense ratio: BUL 0.60%; VUG 0.03%, better
Fund size: BUL $127M; VUG $392B
1Y total return: BUL +13.9%, better; VUG +2.7%
Yield (12M): BUL 0.16%; VUG 0.41%, better
Holdings: BUL 51; VUG 136
Avg volume (30D): BUL 9.42K sh; VUG 6.32M sh, better
NAV per share: BUL $60.71; VUG $85.06
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for BUL, VUG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	BUL	VUG
Cost30% weight	F6	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	Not scored	A99
Risk15% weight	B67Higher	C49
Tradability15% weight	F22	B65Higher
Holdings10% weight	C50Higher	D29
Durability5% weight	C41	A91Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. BUL and VUG are both graded against the same 35 US Growth Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Growth Index⁠

Category · 35 funds

See all 35 ›

VUG ranks 5th and BUL 35th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 2ASCHGSchwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 5AVUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETFScore 77
Rank 6AVBKVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETFScore 72
Rank 34DFSGSFirst Trust SMID Growth Strength ETFScore 36
Rank 35DBULPacer US Cash Cows Growth ETFScore 29

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

BULDPacer US Cash Cows Growth ETF

VUGAVanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

In short

BUL Growth stocks that actually generate cash. BUL screens the growth half of the S&P 900 and keeps about 50 names that clear free cash flow and quality tests, Pacer's Cash Cows logic pointed at growth.

VUG Three basis points buys roughly 170 US large-cap growth names. Running since 2004, over $100 billion in assets, and it tracks its index about as closely as an index fund can.

Stated mandate

BUL The Fund seeks capital appreciation by tracking the Pacer US Cash Cows Growth Index, which screens the S&P 900 Pure Growth Index and selects leading companies using free cash flow yield and quality criteria.

VUG The fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of large-capitalization growth stocks.

Why people hold it

BUL Cash flow is the gate, not the story. The index starts from S&P 900 pure growth names and keeps only those clearing free cash flow and quality screens.paceretfs.com
Deliberately concentrated: about 50 holdings, so the screen actually shows up in the portfolio instead of getting diluted by hundreds of names.
Live since 2019 and pays shareholders quarterly, with a published rules-based index behind every rebalance.

VUG 0.03% a year against a 0.18% median for its growth peer group. A rival tracking the same declared index charges 0.36%, twelve times more for the same shopping list.vanguard.com
One of the largest and most heavily traded funds in US large-cap growth, and among the tightest index implementations in that group. Deep volume tends to mean thin spreads.
Trading since January 2004, so the record spans full market cycles rather than a backtest. Distributions land quarterly.

Worth knowing

BUL Cost is the trade-off: 0.60% a year, versus roughly 0.18% for the typical US growth fund and a few basis points at VUG or SCHG.
Thinly traded compared with the category's giants, so spreads and order size deserve more attention here.
A rules screen means it can look very different from a plain growth index in any given stretch, for better or worse.

VUG Cap-weighted, so the biggest mega-caps dominate the top of the book. That makes it one of the more concentrated portfolios in this cohort.vanguard.com
A style sleeve, not the whole market: growth screens only, large caps only. When growth is out of favor it can swing harder than a total-market fund.
SPYG and SCHG sit at 0.04%, so the price edge is a rounding error. The real gap is how each index defines a growth stock.

Full BUL profile⁠

Full VUG profile⁠

BUL vs VUG Holdings

As of Oct 23, 2026

How BUL and VUG differ

Overlap by weight

2.1%

Shared holdings make up 22.9% of BUL and 2.1% of VUG.

Level by level

Holdings6 in both2.1%
Sector10 Sectors43.8%
Asset classEquity100%
Countryby domicile100%

Sector

Sector weights in BUL and VUG, widest gap first
Sector	More in BULMore in VUG	BUL	VUG
Technology	VUG +37.9 points	22.3%	60.2%
Health Care	BUL +20.2 points	24.4%	4.2%
Consumer Discretionary	BUL +18.5 points	28.3%	9.8%
Communication	VUG +13.4 points	1.3%	14.7%
Materials	BUL +7.0 points	7.4%	0.4%
Energy	BUL +6.0 points	6.3%	0.3%
Financials	VUG +3.9 points	0.0%	3.9%
Industrials	BUL +2.3 points	6.7%	4.4%
Consumer Staples	BUL +2.2 points	3.5%	1.3%
Real Estate	VUG +0.9 points	0.0%	0.9%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in BUL and VUG, widest gap first
Country	More in BULMore in VUG	BUL	VUG
United States	Same weight	100.0%	100.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

BUL44.3%
VUG63.1%

Securities held

BUL50
VUG135

Asset class

BUL: Equity
VUG: Equity

Holdings

Only in BUL44
In both6
Only in VUG129

Only in BUL

44 securities, 77.1% of BUL by weight

HCA Healthcare Inc5.48%
Uber Technologies Inc4.81%
Newmont Corp4.71%
Carnival Corp Ltd4.22%
Expedia Group Inc3.87%
TechnipFMC PLC3.10%
Ulta Beauty Inc2.93%
United Therapeutics Corp2.73%
Incyte Corp2.60%
Tapestry Inc2.59%
Ralph Lauren Corp2.55%
Tenet Healthcare Corp2.45%
Dynatrace Inc2.12%
Medpace Holdings Inc2.09%
Exelixis Inc1.81%
Coeur Mining Inc.1.76%
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc1.63%
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc1.60%
Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc1.58%
Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC1.56%
CACI International Inc1.55%
Five Below Inc1.40%
New York Times Co/The1.26%
Globus Medical Inc1.20%
Antero Midstream Corp1.11%
Sanmina Corp1.04%
Paylocity Holding Corp1.02%
Tetra Tech Inc1.02%
InterDigital Inc0.98%
NewMarket Corp0.92%
Dropbox Inc0.90%
Brinker International Inc0.88%
Wynn Resorts Ltd0.88%
Celsius Holdings Inc0.81%
EnerSys0.72%
ExlService Holdings Inc0.70%
Doximity Inc0.68%
Pegasystems Inc0.65%
Churchill Downs Inc0.65%
Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc0.62%
Option Care Health Inc0.53%
Grand Canyon Education Inc0.47%
Travel + Leisure Co0.47%
Planet Fitness Inc0.44%

Only in VUG

129 securities, 97.9% of VUG by weight

NVIDIA Corp13.49%
Apple Inc12.51%
Microsoft Corp9.75%
Alphabet Inc5.16%
Broadcom Inc4.34%
Amazon.com Inc4.26%
Meta Platforms Inc4.23%
Alphabet Inc4.09%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc2.66%
Tesla Inc2.65%
Eli Lilly & Co2.60%
Visa Inc1.59%
Intel Corp1.45%
Mastercard Inc1.16%
Lam Research Corp1.11%
Palantir Technologies Inc1.10%
Applied Materials Inc1.10%
Costco Wholesale Corp1.09%
Palo Alto Networks Inc0.88%
Netflix Inc0.78%
Crowdstrike Holdings Inc0.71%
KLA Corp0.70%
Oracle Corp0.65%
Marvell Technology Inc0.64%
Arista Networks Inc0.60%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC0.58%
Amphenol Corp0.57%
Welltower Inc0.46%
General Electric Co0.45%
Western Digital Corp0.44%
TJX Cos Inc/The0.41%
Boeing Co/The0.41%
Intuitive Surgical Inc0.41%
ServiceNow Inc0.39%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc0.37%
Texas Instruments Inc0.36%
Corning Inc0.34%
Cloudflare Inc0.33%
Fortinet Inc0.32%
Snowflake Inc0.32%
Starbucks Corp0.30%
Equinix Inc0.29%
Quanta Services Inc0.28%
Datadog Inc0.27%
Cadence Design Systems Inc0.27%
Vertiv Holdings Co0.27%
Space Exploration Technologies Corp0.26%
Howmet Aerospace Inc0.26%
Robinhood Markets Inc0.26%
Lumentum Holdings Inc0.26%

Weight gaps

All 6 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in BUL and VUG, widest gap first
Holding	More in BULMore in VUG	BUL	VUG
Booking Holdings IncBKNG	BUL +4.30 points	4.64%	0.34%
GE Vernova IncGEV	BUL +4.23 points	4.92%	0.69%
AppLovin CorpAPP	BUL +3.96 points	4.20%	0.24%
Sandisk CorpSNDK	BUL +3.59 points	4.29%	0.70%
Las Vegas Sands CorpLVS	BUL +2.69 points	2.74%	0.05%
First Solar IncFSLR	BUL +2.07 points	2.12%	0.05%

All 52 BUL holdings⁠All 166 VUG holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

BUL vs VUG Cost

Overpaying BUL vs VUG

$11,179

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

BUL 0.60%
$11,817
VUG 0.03%
$638

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

BUL 0.60%
VUG 0.03%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	BUL	VUG	Overpaying
10	$1,076	$55	$1,021
20	$4,116	$216	$3,900
30	$11,817	$638	$11,179

Expense ratio

0.60%BUL
0.03%VUG, cheaper

VUG0.03%BUL0.60%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

VUG cheapest of 35 funds

BUL 32nd cheapest of 35 funds

BUL vs VUG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): BUL 0.16%; VUG 0.41%, better
Payout (12M): BUL $0.10; VUG $0.35
Last payment: BUL $0.0061; VUG $0.09
Ex-dividend: BUL Jun 4, 2026; VUG Sep 28, 2026
Paid on: BUL Jun 8, 2026; VUG Sep 30, 2026
Frequency: BUL Twice a year; VUG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

BULTwice a year · 26 paymentsAll BUL payments⁠

VUGQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll VUG payments⁠

BUL vs VUG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: BUL 14.0%, betterVUG 17.3%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: BUL 1.13, betterVUG 1.11
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: BUL −27.9%, betterVUG −35.6%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: BUL 0.82VUG 1.23; Market = 1

BUL and VUG in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026VUG
Head-to-Head
Own iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, IVV, unless you want the heavier growth bet in Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF, VUG
Oct 16, 2026VUG
Best ETFs
The cheap large-cap growth pick is the S&P 500 list
Updated Oct 2, 2026VUG
Behind the Index
Oil rose 4.5% and the 10-year yield stood at 5% as two U.S. stocks fell for every one that rose
Sep 15, 2026VUG

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