ILCG vs VUG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares Morningstar Growth ETF

ILCGANYSE Arca

Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

VUGANYSE Arca

Overlap

75.7%by weight

Expense ratio

VUG −0.01pt a year

ILCG0.04%VUG0.03%

Avg volume · 30D

VUG 92.0×the volume

ILCG69.6KVUG6.41M

10Y return · a year

VUG +0.5pt

ILCG+16.9%VUG+17.4%

ILCG vs VUG Performance

Nov 9, 2021 – Nov 9, 2026

+53.4%ILCG+62.5%VUG

Expense ratio: ILCG 0.04%; VUG 0.03%, better
Fund size: ILCG $2.86B; VUG $233B
1Y total return: ILCG +4.3%; VUG +5.0%, better
Yield (12M): ILCG 0.44%, better; VUG 0.41%
Holdings: ILCG 328; VUG 139
Avg volume (30D): ILCG 69.6K sh; VUG 6.41M sh, better
NAV per share: ILCG $104.77; VUG $82.17
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for ILCG, VUG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	ILCG	VUG
Cost30% weight	A96	A96
Mission25% weight	A100Higher	A99
Risk15% weight	C42	C46Higher
Tradability15% weight	B63	B66Higher
Holdings10% weight	C52Higher	D30
Durability5% weight	B66	A89Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. ILCG 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 ›

ILCG ranks 4th and VUG 4th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 1ASPYGState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETFScore 84
Rank 2AIMCGiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 2ASCHGSchwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 4AILCGiShares Morningstar Growth ETFScore 77
Rank 4AVUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETFScore 77
Rank 6AVBKVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETFScore 72

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

ILCGAiShares Morningstar Growth ETF

VUGAVanguard Morningstar 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 ILCG profile⁠

Full VUG profile⁠

ILCG vs VUG Holdings

How ILCG and VUG differ

Overlap by weight

75.7%

Shared holdings make up 98.6% of VUG and 81.6% of ILCG.

Level by level

Holdings124 in both75.7%
Sector11 Sectors85.4%
Countryby domicile99.5%
Asset classStocks100%

Sector

Sector weights in ILCG and VUG, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	ILCG	VUG
Technology	VUG +8.9 points	50.7%	59.6%
Communication	VUG +5.7 points	9.3%	15.0%
Industrials	ILCG +5.3 points	9.8%	4.5%
Health Care	ILCG +2.6 points	6.9%	4.3%
Financials	ILCG +2.1 points	6.0%	3.9%
Materials	ILCG +1.1 points	1.5%	0.4%
Utilities	ILCG +0.9 points	0.9%	0.0%
Real Estate	ILCG +0.8 points	1.7%	0.9%
Consumer Staples	ILCG +0.7 points	2.0%	1.3%
Consumer Discretionary	ILCG +0.5 points	10.5%	10.0%
Energy	ILCG +0.4 points	0.7%	0.3%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in ILCG and VUG, widest gap first
Country	More in ILCGMore in VUG	Gap	ILCG	VUG
United States		VUG +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

ILCG50.0%
VUG63.1%

Securities held

ILCG325
VUG136

Asset class

ILCG: Stocks
VUG: Stocks

Holdings

Only in ILCG201
In both124
Only in VUG12

Only in ILCG

201 securities, 18.3% of ILCG by weight

Micron Technology1.45%
Walmart0.74%
Caterpillar Inc0.48%
Analog Devices0.32%
Freeport Mcmoran Inc0.29%
Johnson Controls International PLC0.28%
Deere0.27%
Aon PLC Class A0.24%
Cencora0.22%
Cummins Inc0.21%
Bank of New York Mellon Corp0.21%
Csx0.21%
Edwards Lifesciences0.19%
Emerson Electric0.19%
Ross Stores Inc0.18%
Ametek Inc0.18%
Eaton PLC0.18%
Charles Schwab0.17%
Marathon Petroleum0.17%
Sherwin Williams0.17%
Constellation Energy Corp0.17%
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologie0.16%
Baker Hughes Class A0.16%
American Express0.16%
Nasdaq Inc0.16%
Trane Technologies PLC0.16%
Keysight Technologies0.16%
United Rentals0.15%
Parker-Hannifin0.15%
S&P Global0.15%
Arthur J Gallagher0.15%
Natera0.14%
Illinois Tool Inc0.14%
Rockwell Automation Inc0.14%
Vistra0.14%
Nxp Semiconductors NV0.14%
Digital Realty Trust Reit0.14%
Te Connectivity PLC0.13%
Marsh0.13%
Stryker0.12%
Simon Property Group Reit Inc0.12%
Cardinal Health0.12%
Nucor0.12%
Uber Technologies0.12%
Williams0.11%
Apollo Global Management0.11%
Mckesson Corp0.11%
Norfolk Southern Corp0.11%
Allstate Corp0.11%
Microchip Technology Inc0.11%

Only in VUG

12 securities, 1.4% of VUG by weight

Booking Holdings Inc0.34%
Space Exploration Technologies Corp0.26%
McDonald's Corp0.24%
Waste Connections Inc0.13%
Workday Inc0.12%
Atlassian Corp0.10%
Tradeweb Markets Inc0.05%
TRS:VISA INC-CLASS A SHARES USD 2027-Aug-310.04%
SLBBH11420.04%
Cerebras Systems Inc0.04%
Symbotic Inc0.03%
Venture Global Inc0.03%

Weight gaps

The 100 widest of 124 Holdings in both funds.

Holding weights in ILCG and VUG, widest gap first
Holding	Gap	ILCG	VUG
MicrosoftMSFT	VUG +6.45 points	3.29%	9.74%
AppleAAPL	VUG +4.03 points	8.47%	12.50%
Meta Platforms Class AMETA	VUG +2.57 points	1.66%	4.23%
Alphabet Class AGOOGL	VUG +1.94 points	3.22%	5.16%
Alphabet Class CGOOG	VUG +1.48 points	2.61%	4.09%
NVIDIANVDA	ILCG +1.27 points	14.75%	13.48%
Eli LillyLLY	ILCG +1.07 points	3.67%	2.60%
Ge AerospaceGE	ILCG +0.69 points	1.14%	0.45%
Intel CorporationINTC	VUG +0.56 points	0.89%	1.45%
Tesla IncTSLA	VUG +0.53 points	2.12%	2.65%
Amazon.com IncAMZN	ILCG +0.51 points	4.77%	4.26%
SandiskSNDK	VUG +0.51 points	0.19%	0.70%
Costco Wholesale CorpCOST	VUG +0.40 points	0.69%	1.09%
Visa Class AV	VUG +0.37 points	1.22%	1.59%
OracleORCL	VUG +0.33 points	0.32%	0.65%
Broadcom IncAVGO	ILCG +0.31 points	4.65%	4.34%
Lam ResearchLRCX	VUG +0.26 points	0.85%	1.11%
Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTX	VUG +0.23 points	0.14%	0.37%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLCSTX	VUG +0.23 points	0.35%	0.58%
Marvell TechnologyMRVL	VUG +0.22 points	0.42%	0.64%
TjxTJX	VUG +0.22 points	0.19%	0.41%
Applied Material IncAMAT	VUG +0.20 points	0.90%	1.10%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD	VUG +0.18 points	2.48%	2.66%
Royal Caribbean GroupRCL	ILCG +0.16 points	0.28%	0.12%
Mastercard Class AMA	VUG +0.15 points	1.01%	1.16%
WelltowerWELL	ILCG +0.14 points	0.60%	0.46%
Intuitive SurgicalISRG	ILCG +0.13 points	0.54%	0.41%
Western Digital CorpWDC	VUG +0.12 points	0.32%	0.44%
Applovin Class AAPP	ILCG +0.12 points	0.36%	0.24%
NetflixNFLX	ILCG +0.12 points	0.90%	0.78%
Marriott International Class AMAR	VUG +0.10 points	0.12%	0.22%
Palantir Technologies Class APLTR	ILCG +0.11 points	1.21%	1.10%
Lumentum HoldingsLITE	VUG +0.10 points	0.16%	0.26%
Starbucks CorpSBUX	VUG +0.09 points	0.21%	0.30%
Equinix ReitEQIX	VUG +0.10 points	0.19%	0.29%
Targa ResourcesTRGP	VUG +0.09 points	0.09%	0.18%
Coreweave Class ACRWV	VUG +0.08 points	0.03%	0.11%
KlaKLAC	VUG +0.09 points	0.61%	0.70%
TeradyneTER	VUG +0.07 points	0.12%	0.19%
Astera LabsALAB	VUG +0.08 points	0.10%	0.18%
Datadog Inc Class ADDOG	VUG +0.07 points	0.20%	0.27%
FortinetFTNT	VUG +0.07 points	0.25%	0.32%
Ventas ReitVTR	ILCG +0.07 points	0.15%	0.08%
Motorola Solutions IncMSI	ILCG +0.07 points	0.29%	0.22%
SynopsysSNPS	VUG +0.07 points	0.18%	0.25%
Bloom Energy Class ABE	VUG +0.06 points	0.17%	0.23%
Comfort Systems UsaFIX	VUG +0.06 points	0.12%	0.18%
Hilton Worldwide HoldingsHLT	ILCG +0.07 points	0.28%	0.21%
Airbnb Class AABNB	ILCG +0.06 points	0.26%	0.20%
CintasCTAS	ILCG +0.06 points	0.26%	0.20%
Moodys CorpMCO	ILCG +0.06 points	0.26%	0.20%
BoeingBA	ILCG +0.05 points	0.46%	0.41%
CoherentCOHR	VUG +0.05 points	0.12%	0.17%
CorningGLW	VUG +0.05 points	0.29%	0.34%
EcolabECL	ILCG +0.05 points	0.26%	0.21%
AutodeskADSK	ILCG +0.05 points	0.19%	0.14%
Ww Grainger IncGWW	ILCG +0.05 points	0.22%	0.17%
Amphenol Corp Class AAPH	ILCG +0.05 points	0.62%	0.57%
Mettler ToledoMTD	VUG +0.05 points	0.06%	0.11%
Martin Marietta MaterialsMLM	ILCG +0.05 points	0.11%	0.06%
Robinhood Markets Class AHOOD	VUG +0.05 points	0.21%	0.26%
Carvana Class ACVNA	ILCG +0.05 points	0.18%	0.13%
CienaCIEN	VUG +0.04 points	0.12%	0.16%
Transdigm GroupTDG	ILCG +0.04 points	0.22%	0.18%
Interactive Brokers Group Inc ClasIBKR	ILCG +0.04 points	0.11%	0.07%
Alnylam PharmaceuticalsALNY	VUG +0.04 points	0.07%	0.11%
Idexx LaboratoriesIDXX	ILCG +0.04 points	0.17%	0.13%
Oreilly Automotive IncORLY	ILCG +0.04 points	0.25%	0.21%
BlackstoneBX	VUG +0.04 points	0.09%	0.13%
Monster BeverageMNST	ILCG +0.04 points	0.21%	0.17%
MsciMSCI	ILCG +0.03 points	0.15%	0.12%
Rocket Lab CorpRKLB	VUG +0.04 points	0.10%	0.14%
Cloudflare Class ANET	VUG +0.04 points	0.29%	0.33%
AutozoneAZO	ILCG +0.03 points	0.18%	0.15%
ServicenowNOW	VUG +0.03 points	0.36%	0.39%
Super Micro Computer IncSMCI	VUG +0.04 points	0.05%	0.09%
Vertiv Holdings Class AVRT	VUG +0.04 points	0.23%	0.27%
Cadence Design SystemsCDNS	ILCG +0.03 points	0.30%	0.27%
Reddit Class ARDDT	VUG +0.03 points	0.05%	0.08%
Coinbase Global Class ACOIN	VUG +0.03 points	0.10%	0.13%
Yum BrandsYUM	VUG +0.03 points	0.09%	0.12%
Block Class AXYZ	ILCG +0.03 points	0.15%	0.13%
Verisk AnalyticsVRSK	VUG +0.03 points	0.05%	0.08%
Las Vegas SandsLVS	VUG +0.03 points	0.02%	0.05%
InsmedINSM	ILCG +0.02 points	0.08%	0.06%
Axon EnterpriseAXON	VUG +0.03 points	0.08%	0.11%
FastenalFAST	ILCG +0.02 points	0.20%	0.18%
Texas InstrumentTXN	ILCG +0.03 points	0.39%	0.36%
Waters CorpWAT	ILCG +0.03 points	0.11%	0.08%
Doordash Class ADASH	ILCG +0.02 points	0.23%	0.21%
Crowdstrike Holdings Class ACRWD	ILCG +0.02 points	0.73%	0.71%
Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG	ILCG +0.02 points	0.15%	0.13%
Veeva Systems Class AVEEV	ILCG +0.01 points	0.15%	0.14%
Ast Spacemobile Class AASTS	VUG +0.02 points	0.03%	0.05%
Howmet AerospaceHWM	ILCG +0.02 points	0.28%	0.26%
ZscalerZS	VUG +0.02 points	0.07%	0.09%
Palo Alto NetworksPANW	VUG +0.01 points	0.87%	0.88%
Sba Communications Reit Corp ClassSBAC	VUG +0.01 points	0.03%	0.04%
Live Nation EntertainmentLYV	VUG +0.01 points	0.09%	0.10%
Vulcan MaterialsVMC	ILCG +0.01 points	0.12%	0.11%

All 325 ILCG holdings⁠All 135 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.

ILCG vs VUG Cost

Overpaying ILCG vs VUG

$211

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

ILCG 0.04%
$849
VUG 0.03%
$638

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

ILCG 0.04%
VUG 0.03%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	ILCG	VUG	Overpaying
10	$73	$55	$18
20	$288	$216	$72
30	$849	$638	$211

Expense ratio

0.04%ILCG
0.03%VUG, cheaper

VUG0.03%ILCG0.04%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

VUG cheapest of 35 funds

ILCG 2nd cheapest of 35 funds

ILCG vs VUG Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): ILCG 0.44%, better; VUG 0.41%
Payout (12M): ILCG $0.48; VUG $0.35
Last payment: ILCG $0.14; VUG $0.09
Ex-dividend: ILCG Sep 15, 2026; VUG Sep 28, 2026
Paid on: ILCG Sep 18, 2026; VUG Sep 30, 2026
Frequency: ILCG Quarterly; VUG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

ILCGQuarterly · 40 paymentsAll ILCG payments⁠

VUGQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll VUG payments⁠

ILCG vs VUG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

ILCG
VUG

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: ILCG 17.8%VUG 17.3%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: ILCG 1.06VUG 1.11, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: ILCG −35.4%, betterVUG −35.6%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: ILCG 1.23VUG 1.23; Market = 1

ILCG 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, 2026ILCGVUG
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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