ILCG vs VBK: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares Morningstar Growth ETF

ILCGANYSE Arca

Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

VBKANYSE Arca

Overlap

3.2%by weight

Expense ratio

ILCG −0.01pt a year

ILCG0.04%VBK0.05%

Avg volume · 30D

VBK 2.9×the volume

ILCG70.4KVBK203K

10Y return · a year

ILCG +6.4pt

ILCG+17.3%VBK+10.9%

ILCG vs VBK Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+59.5%ILCG+15.0%VBK

Expense ratio: ILCG 0.04%, better; VBK 0.05%
Fund size: ILCG $3B; VBK $43B
1Y total return: ILCG +3.2%; VBK +9.2%, better
Yield (12M): ILCG 0.44%, better; VBK 0.42%
Holdings: ILCG 328; VBK 556
Avg volume (30D): ILCG 70.4K sh; VBK 203K sh, better
NAV per share: ILCG $109.98; VBK $330.29
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for ILCG, VBK, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	ILCG	VBK
Cost30% weight	A96Higher	A78
Mission25% weight	A100Higher	A96
Risk15% weight	C44Higher	C41
Tradability15% weight	B64Higher	C43
Holdings10% weight	C49	A80Higher
Durability5% weight	B64	A83Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. ILCG and VBK 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 ›

ILCG ranks 2nd and VBK 6th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 1ASPYGState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETFScore 84
Rank 2AILCGiShares Morningstar Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 2AIMCGiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 5AVUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETFScore 77
Rank 6AVBKVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETFScore 72
Rank 7AVOTVanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETFScore 71

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

ILCGAiShares Morningstar Growth ETF

VBKAVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

In short

ILCG Growth by Morningstar's rulebook. A 2004-vintage iShares fund that screens large and mid caps for above-average earnings, sales, cash-flow and book-value growth, and charges four basis points to do it.

VBK The small-cap outlier in a growth aisle dominated by mega-cap names. About 600 smaller U.S. growth companies, tracked by full replication for 0.05% a year, run by Vanguard since 2004.

Stated mandate

ILCG The fund aims to follow an index of U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks chosen for above-average earnings, sales, cash-flow, and book-value growth.

VBK Seeks to track the CRSP US Small Cap Growth Index, representing growth companies among small-capitalization U.S. equities. The fund uses passive full replication and remains fully invested.

Why people hold it

ILCG 0.04% a year. The typical fund in its factor peer group charges roughly eight times that, so almost none of the return leaks out the fee door.
Uses Morningstar's growth definition (earnings, sales, cash flow, book value) rather than S&P's or Russell's, and reaches into mid caps, not just the S&P 500.ishares.com
Trading since 2004, a multi-billion-dollar fund holding roughly 300 stocks. Long-running plumbing, not a launch-week experiment.
Tracking has been tight, and the fund sits in the upper half of its factor cohort overall, with cost doing much of the heavy lifting.

VBK Costs 0.05% a year against a 0.18% median across its growth peer group, and sits in the same fee neighborhood as large-cap giants like VUG and SCHG while indexing a much thinner slice of the market.
Plain mechanics: full replication of the CRSP US Small Cap Growth Index, fully invested, no manager discretion. Roughly 600 holdings spread out the single-name risk that comes with small companies.vanguard.com
Live since 2004 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, with a long record of hugging its index closely. Distributions land quarterly.
One of the stronger implementations in its growth cohort: the cheap, wide, rules-driven way to own the small end of the style box rather than a stock-picker's version of it.

Worth knowing

ILCG Pure growth means no value ballast, and the ride has been bumpier than most funds in its factor group. The style can sit out of favor for long stretches.
Concentration runs high for the cohort: cap-weighted growth screens funnel a big share of the fund into the same handful of mega-cap names.
Moderately traded, not a tape leader. Sibling IUSG applies S&P's growth definition at the same 0.04%, so the pick is which index rulebook you prefer.

VBK Small-cap growth is the market's jumpiest corner, and the fund stays fully invested through every drawdown. There is no cash buffer or defensive tilt to soften the ride.
This is a style slice, not a portfolio: U.S. only, small caps only, growth side of the index only. What qualifies is decided by CRSP's rules, not by a manager's judgment.
Trades in solid but not headline volume, so spreads can run wider than the mega-cap growth ETFs it shares a shelf with.

Full ILCG profile⁠

Full VBK profile⁠

ILCG vs VBK Holdings

How ILCG and VBK differ

Overlap by weight

3.2%

Shared holdings make up 30.9% of VBK and 3.2% of ILCG.

Level by level

Holdings60 in both3.2%
Sector11 Sectors67.5%
Countryby domicile99.5%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in ILCG and VBK, widest gap first
Sector	More in ILCGMore in VBK	ILCG	VBK
Technology	ILCG +25.3 points	53.5%	28.2%
Health Care	VBK +14.0 points	6.5%	20.6%
Industrials	VBK +9.5 points	9.7%	19.2%
Communication	ILCG +4.9 points	8.5%	3.6%
Materials	VBK +3.2 points	1.4%	4.6%
Energy	VBK +3.2 points	0.8%	4.0%
Consumer Discretionary	ILCG +2.2 points	9.7%	7.5%
Real Estate	VBK +2.2 points	1.6%	3.8%
Financials	VBK +0.2 points	5.5%	5.7%
Consumer Staples	VBK +0.2 points	1.8%	2.0%
Utilities	VBK +0.1 points	0.9%	1.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in ILCG and VBK, widest gap first
Country	More in ILCGMore in VBK	ILCG	VBK
United States	VBK +0.5 points	99.5%	100.0%
Other countries (5)	ILCG +0.5 points	0.5%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

ILCG49.8%
VBK12.2%

Securities held

ILCG325
VBK551

Asset class

ILCG: Equity
VBK: Equity

Holdings

Only in ILCG265
In both60
Only in VBK491

Only in ILCG

265 securities, 96.7% of ILCG by weight

NVIDIA15.40%
Apple8.12%
Broadcom Inc4.92%
Amazon.com Inc4.21%
Eli Lilly3.66%
Microsoft3.08%
Alphabet Class A3.01%
Advanced Micro Devices2.66%
Alphabet Class C2.43%
Tesla Inc2.26%
Micron Technology1.77%
Meta Platforms Class A1.59%
Palantir Technologies Class A1.32%
Visa Class A1.14%
Ge Aerospace1.01%
Applied Material Inc1.00%
Intel Corporation0.99%
Lam Research0.97%
Palo Alto Networks0.96%
Mastercard Class A0.94%
Netflix0.84%
Crowdstrike Holdings Class A0.80%
Ge Vernova0.74%
Walmart0.69%
Kla0.67%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.63%
Amphenol Corp Class A0.63%
Arista Networks0.56%
Marvell Technology0.55%
Welltower0.55%
Caterpillar Inc0.51%
Intuitive Surgical0.49%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC0.47%
Boeing0.44%
Western Digital Corp0.43%
Texas Instrument0.40%
Analog Devices0.35%
Servicenow0.35%
Oracle0.35%
Snowflake0.33%
Corning0.32%
Quanta Services Inc0.30%
Cadence Design Systems0.29%
Johnson Controls International PLC0.29%
Cloudflare Class A0.29%
Freeport Mcmoran Inc0.29%
Vertiv Holdings Class A0.28%
Dell Technologies Inc Class C0.28%
Fortinet0.27%
Motorola Solutions Inc0.26%

Only in VBK

491 securities, 69.0% of VBK by weight

SLCMT11422.09%
Okta Inc1.00%
Guardant Health Inc0.65%
Roku Inc0.57%
Nutanix Inc0.52%
Nordson Corp0.50%
FTAI Aviation Ltd0.49%
Dynatrace Inc0.48%
SiTime Corp0.48%
Semtech Corp0.47%
Coeur Mining Inc0.46%
Unity Software Inc0.46%
SharkNinja Inc0.43%
Onto Innovation Inc0.43%
RB Global Inc0.43%
Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc0.41%
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc0.41%
Sterling Infrastructure Inc0.41%
Medpace Holdings Inc0.40%
Exelixis Inc0.39%
Twist Bioscience Corp0.37%
Docusign Inc0.37%
Samsara Inc0.36%
DigitalOcean Holdings Inc0.36%
Halozyme Therapeutics Inc0.36%
Graco Inc0.35%
Generac Holdings Inc0.35%
Five Below Inc0.35%
QXO Inc0.35%
GoDaddy Inc0.34%
Penumbra Inc0.34%
Guidewire Software Inc0.34%
American Healthcare REIT Inc0.34%
FormFactor Inc0.33%
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc0.33%
Manhattan Associates Inc0.33%
Rambus Inc0.33%
Bridgebio Pharma Inc0.33%
Hecla Mining Co0.33%
Bio-Techne Corp0.32%
Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc0.32%
Wayfair Inc0.32%
Corcept Therapeutics Inc0.32%
10X Genomics Inc0.31%
JFrog Ltd0.31%
UDR Inc0.31%
Littelfuse Inc0.31%
Advanced Energy Industries Inc0.31%
Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc0.31%
Deckers Outdoor Corp0.30%

Weight gaps

All 60 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in ILCG and VBK, widest gap first
Holding	More in ILCGMore in VBK	ILCG	VBK
NateraNTRA	VBK +1.44 points	0.18%	1.62%
Twilio Class ATWLO	VBK +1.18 points	0.10%	1.28%
Revolution MedicinesRVMD	VBK +1.14 points	0.05%	1.19%
Illumina IncILMN	VBK +1.11 points	0.07%	1.18%
Everpure Inc Class AP	VBK +1.05 points	0.13%	1.18%
Credo Technology Group Holding LtdCRDO	VBK +0.86 points	0.08%	0.94%
Emcor GroupEME	VBK +0.86 points	0.09%	0.95%
Technipfmc PLCFTI	VBK +0.70 points	0.06%	0.76%
Nvent Electric PLCNVT	VBK +0.67 points	0.07%	0.74%
AtiATI	VBK +0.67 points	0.07%	0.74%
Entegris IncENTG	VBK +0.59 points	0.08%	0.67%
Incyte CorpINCY	VBK +0.57 points	0.03%	0.60%
Caseys General Stores IncCASY	VBK +0.56 points	0.08%	0.64%
Macom Technology SolutionsMTSI	VBK +0.54 points	0.05%	0.59%
Liberty Media Series CFWONK	VBK +0.52 points	0.04%	0.56%
Curtiss WrightCW	VBK +0.51 points	0.06%	0.57%
Sofi TechnologiesSOFI	VBK +0.51 points	0.07%	0.58%
Royal GoldRGLD	VBK +0.51 points	0.06%	0.57%
Roivant Sciences LtdROIV	VBK +0.51 points	0.02%	0.53%
WoodwardWWD	VBK +0.49 points	0.06%	0.55%
XpoXPO	VBK +0.49 points	0.07%	0.56%
Flex LtdFLEX	VBK +0.48 points	0.10%	0.58%
Carpenter TechnologyCRS	VBK +0.48 points	0.04%	0.52%
MksMKSI	VBK +0.47 points	0.04%	0.51%
Lattice SemiconductorLSCC	VBK +0.47 points	0.04%	0.51%
Affirm Holdings Class AAFRM	VBK +0.46 points	0.07%	0.53%
Itt IncITT	VBK +0.46 points	0.06%	0.52%
Rivian Automotive Class ARIVN	VBK +0.44 points	0.02%	0.46%
Burlington StoresBURL	VBK +0.43 points	0.05%	0.48%
Rbc BearingsRBC	VBK +0.40 points	0.05%	0.45%
Talen EnergyTLN	VBK +0.41 points	0.02%	0.43%
FabrinetFN	VBK +0.39 points	0.04%	0.43%
IonqIONQ	VBK +0.39 points	0.04%	0.43%
PtcPTC	VBK +0.39 points	0.04%	0.43%
Clean Harbors IncCLH	VBK +0.37 points	0.05%	0.42%
Sun Communities Reit IncSUI	VBK +0.37 points	0.02%	0.39%
Weyerhaeuser ReitWY	VBK +0.36 points	0.03%	0.39%
Mastec IncMTZ	VBK +0.35 points	0.04%	0.39%
Toast Class ATOST	VBK +0.35 points	0.05%	0.40%
Somnigroup InternationalSGI	VBK +0.35 points	0.04%	0.39%
Ttm Technologies IncTTMI	VBK +0.34 points	0.03%	0.37%
Bwx Technologies IncBWXT	VBK +0.32 points	0.04%	0.36%
Tyler TechnologiesTYL	VBK +0.32 points	0.05%	0.37%
Circle Internet Group Inc Class ACRCL	VBK +0.32 points	0.04%	0.36%
Nextpower IncNXT	VBK +0.30 points	0.02%	0.32%
United TherapeuticsUTHR	VBK +0.29 points	0.04%	0.33%
Lennox InternationalLII	VBK +0.28 points	0.04%	0.32%
Costar GroupCSGP	VBK +0.28 points	0.04%	0.32%
InsmedINSM	VBK +0.28 points	0.08%	0.36%
Southwest AirlinesLUV	VBK +0.25 points	0.04%	0.29%
Texas Pacific LandTPL	VBK +0.24 points	0.06%	0.30%
First SolarFSLR	VBK +0.23 points	0.03%	0.26%
Ast Spacemobile Class AASTS	VBK +0.20 points	0.04%	0.24%
Albemarle CorpALB	VBK +0.16 points	0.02%	0.18%
WatscoWSO	VBK +0.13 points	0.02%	0.15%
Tko Group Holdings Inc Class ATKO	VBK +0.13 points	0.02%	0.15%
Qnity ElectronicsQ	VBK +0.11 points	0.08%	0.19%
Hubbell IncHUBB	VBK +0.10 points	0.07%	0.17%
Rollins IncROL	VBK +0.09 points	0.04%	0.13%
Liberty Media Series AFWONA	VBK +0.06 points	<0.01%	0.06%

All 325 ILCG holdings⁠All 579 VBK 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.

ILCG vs VBK Cost

Overpaying VBK vs ILCG

$211

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

ILCG 0.04%
$849
VBK 0.05%
$1,060

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

ILCG 0.04%
VBK 0.05%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	ILCG	VBK	Overpaying
10	$73	$92	$19
20	$288	$360	$72
30	$849	$1,060	$211

Expense ratio

0.04%ILCG, cheaper
0.05%VBK

ILCG0.04%VBK0.05%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

ILCG 2nd cheapest of 35 funds

VBK 5th cheapest of 35 funds

ILCG vs VBK Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): ILCG 0.44%, better; VBK 0.42%
Payout (12M): ILCG $0.48; VBK $1.40
Last payment: ILCG $0.14; VBK $0.30
Ex-dividend: ILCG Sep 15, 2026; VBK Sep 28, 2026
Paid on: ILCG Sep 18, 2026; VBK Sep 30, 2026
Frequency: ILCG Quarterly; VBK Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

ILCGQuarterly · 40 paymentsAll ILCG payments⁠

VBKQuarterly · 38 paymentsAll VBK payments⁠

ILCG vs VBK Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

ILCG
VBK

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: ILCG 17.8%, betterVBK 18.6%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: ILCG 1.06, betterVBK 0.79
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: ILCG −35.4%, betterVBK −38.4%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: ILCG 1.23VBK 1.19; Market = 1

ILCG and VBK in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
Best small-cap ETFs: Vanguard’s VB beats three great funds all charging just 0.03%
Updated Nov 2, 2026VBK
Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026ILCG

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ILCG vs VBK

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How ILCG and VBK differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in ILCG

Only in VBK

Weight gaps

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

Best small-cap ETFs: Vanguard’s VB beats three great funds all charging just 0.03%

The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want

How ILCG and VBK differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in ILCG

Only in VBK

Weight gaps