QQQG vs VUG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Pacer Nasdaq-100 Top 50 Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF

QQQGCNasdaq

Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

VUGANYSE Arca

Overlap

19.5%by weight

Expense ratio

VUG −0.46pt a year

QQQG0.49%VUG0.03%

Avg volume · 30D

VUG 237.1×the volume

QQQG26.7KVUG6.32M

QQQG vs VUG Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+17.7%QQQG+2.7%VUG

Expense ratio: QQQG 0.49%; VUG 0.03%, better
Fund size: QQQG $54M; VUG $392B
1Y total return: QQQG +17.7%, better; VUG +2.7%
Yield (12M): QQQG 0.07%; VUG 0.41%, better
Holdings: QQQG 51; VUG 136
Avg volume (30D): QQQG 26.7K sh; VUG 6.32M sh, better
NAV per share: QQQG $29.12; VUG $85.06
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for QQQG, VUG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	QQQG	VUG
Cost30% weight	F18	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	A82	A99Higher
Risk15% weight	C47	C49Higher
Tradability15% weight	C44	B65Higher
Holdings10% weight	C50Higher	D29
Durability5% weight	F17	A91Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. QQQG 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 QQQG 28th 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 28CPRXGPraxis Impact Large Cap Growth ETFScore 45
Rank 28CQQQGPacer Nasdaq-100 Top 50 Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETFScore 45
Rank 32CQMIDWisdomTree U.S. MidCap Quality Growth FundScore 40

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

QQQGCPacer Nasdaq-100 Top 50 Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF

VUGAVanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

In short

QQQG Pacer took its Cash Cows playbook up to the Nasdaq-100: screen the index for free-cash-flow strength and momentum, then keep about 50 names. A concentrated growth sleeve with a boutique price tag.

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

QQQG The fund seeks to track the Pacer Nasdaq-100 Top 50 Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index before fees and expenses. Its rules-based approach screens Nasdaq-100 companies using projected cash-flow and earnings measures, free-cash-flow margin, and price momentum.

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

Why people hold it

QQQG Rules-based, not a stock picker's wish list. The screen ranks Nasdaq-100 companies on projected cash flow and earnings, free-cash-flow margin, and price momentum.paceretfs.com
Concentrated on purpose: about 50 holdings instead of the full Nasdaq-100, so the cash-flow leaders the index picks carry real weight in the portfolio.
Profitability sits inside the screen, so the roster tilts toward Nasdaq-100 names that actually convert business into free cash flow, with quarterly distributions.

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

QQQG 0.49% a year is a premium for growth exposure. Broad rivals such as VUG (0.03%) and SCHG (0.04%) deliver plain large-cap growth for single-digit basis points.
Small asset base and thin trading. Spreads can run wider than the household-name growth funds, which matters most on larger or hurried orders.
Launched in 2024, so the screen has yet to be tested across a full market cycle. Judge it on the rules, not on a long record.

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 QQQG profile⁠

Full VUG profile⁠

QQQG vs VUG Holdings

As of Oct 23, 2026

How QQQG and VUG differ

Overlap by weight

19.5%

Shared holdings make up 74.0% of QQQG and 54.4% of VUG.

Level by level

Holdings32 in both19.5%
Sector10 Sectors73.8%
Countryby domicile99.2%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in QQQG and VUG, widest gap first
Sector	More in QQQGMore in VUG	QQQG	VUG
Technology	QQQG +22.0 points	82.2%	60.2%
Communication	VUG +13.3 points	1.4%	14.7%
Consumer Discretionary	VUG +7.1 points	2.7%	9.8%
Financials	VUG +3.9 points	0.0%	3.9%
Health Care	QQQG +2.9 points	7.1%	4.2%
Energy	QQQG +1.3 points	1.6%	0.3%
Real Estate	VUG +0.9 points	0.0%	0.9%
Industrials	VUG +0.7 points	3.7%	4.4%
Materials	VUG +0.4 points	0.0%	0.4%
Consumer Staples	QQQG +0.1 points	1.4%	1.3%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in QQQG and VUG, widest gap first
Country	More in QQQGMore in VUG	QQQG	VUG
United States	VUG +0.8 points	99.2%	100.0%
Brazil	QQQG +0.8 points	0.8%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

QQQG48.7%
VUG63.1%

Securities held

QQQG50
VUG135

Asset class

QQQG: Equity
VUG: Equity

Holdings

Only in QQQG18
In both32
Only in VUG103

Only in QQQG

18 securities, 26.0% of QQQG by weight

Micron Technology Inc4.71%
Cisco Systems Inc2.33%
CSX Corp2.02%
Diamondback Energy Inc1.85%
Analog Devices Inc1.59%
Amgen Inc1.43%
Automatic Data Processing Inc1.32%
Paychex Inc1.27%
Roper Technologies Inc1.15%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc1.14%
NXP Semiconductors NV1.09%
QUALCOMM Inc1.07%
Gilead Sciences Inc1.06%
Microchip Technology Inc0.92%
MercadoLibre Inc0.88%
Adobe Inc0.81%
Intuit Inc0.67%
Copart Inc0.66%

Only in VUG

103 securities, 45.6% of VUG by weight

Alphabet Inc5.16%
Amazon.com Inc4.26%
Meta Platforms Inc4.23%
Alphabet Inc4.09%
Tesla Inc2.65%
Eli Lilly & Co2.60%
Visa Inc1.59%
Intel Corp1.45%
Mastercard Inc1.16%
Applied Materials Inc1.10%
Costco Wholesale Corp1.09%
GE Vernova Inc0.69%
Oracle Corp0.65%
Arista Networks Inc0.60%
Amphenol Corp0.57%
Welltower Inc0.46%
General Electric Co0.45%
TJX Cos Inc/The0.41%
Boeing Co/The0.41%
ServiceNow Inc0.39%
Corning Inc0.34%
Cloudflare Inc0.33%
Snowflake Inc0.32%
Starbucks Corp0.30%
Equinix Inc0.29%
Quanta Services Inc0.28%
Vertiv Holdings Co0.27%
Space Exploration Technologies Corp0.26%
Howmet Aerospace Inc0.26%
Robinhood Markets Inc0.26%
Lumentum Holdings Inc0.26%
McDonald's Corp0.24%
Dell Technologies Inc0.23%
Bloom Energy Corp0.23%
Marriott International Inc/MD0.22%
Motorola Solutions Inc0.22%
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc0.21%
DoorDash Inc0.21%
Ecolab Inc0.21%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc0.21%
Cintas Corp0.20%
Moody's Corp0.20%
Monolithic Power Systems Inc0.19%
Teradyne Inc0.19%
TransDigm Group Inc0.18%
Comfort Systems USA Inc0.18%
Targa Resources Corp0.18%
Fastenal Co0.18%
Coherent Corp0.17%
WW Grainger Inc0.17%

Weight gaps

All 32 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in QQQG and VUG, widest gap first
Holding	More in QQQGMore in VUG	QQQG	VUG
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	VUG +12.35 points	1.14%	13.49%
Apple IncAAPL	VUG +10.80 points	1.71%	12.51%
Microsoft CorpMSFT	VUG +8.45 points	1.30%	9.75%
Datadog IncDDOG	QQQG +5.40 points	5.67%	0.27%
Sandisk CorpSNDK	QQQG +4.97 points	5.67%	0.70%
Marvell Technology IncMRVL	QQQG +4.93 points	5.57%	0.64%
Fortinet IncFTNT	QQQG +4.65 points	4.97%	0.32%
Astera Labs IncALAB	QQQG +4.02 points	4.20%	0.18%
Western Digital CorpWDC	QQQG +3.90 points	4.34%	0.44%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLCSTX	QQQG +3.67 points	4.25%	0.58%
Crowdstrike Holdings IncCRWD	QQQG +3.28 points	3.99%	0.71%
Broadcom IncAVGO	VUG +3.16 points	1.18%	4.34%
Palo Alto Networks IncPANW	QQQG +3.05 points	3.93%	0.88%
Advanced Micro Devices IncAMD	QQQG +2.63 points	5.29%	2.66%
Texas Instruments IncTXN	QQQG +1.52 points	1.88%	0.36%
Monster Beverage CorpMNST	QQQG +1.45 points	1.62%	0.17%
Old Dominion Freight Line IncODFL	QQQG +1.36 points	1.47%	0.11%
Airbnb IncABNB	QQQG +1.25 points	1.45%	0.20%
Dexcom IncDXCM	QQQG +1.20 points	1.31%	0.11%
Cadence Design Systems IncCDNS	QQQG +1.08 points	1.35%	0.27%
Workday IncWDAY	QQQG +0.92 points	1.04%	0.12%
Kla CorpKLAC	QQQG +0.86 points	1.56%	0.70%
Autodesk IncADSK	QQQG +0.78 points	0.92%	0.14%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals IncVRTX	QQQG +0.77 points	1.14%	0.37%
Synopsys IncSNPS	QQQG +0.64 points	0.89%	0.25%
IDEXX Laboratories IncIDXX	QQQG +0.65 points	0.78%	0.13%
Lam Research CorpLRCX	QQQG +0.39 points	1.50%	1.11%
AppLovin CorpAPP	QQQG +0.40 points	0.64%	0.24%
Booking Holdings IncBKNG	QQQG +0.39 points	0.73%	0.34%
Intuitive Surgical IncISRG	QQQG +0.38 points	0.79%	0.41%
Palantir Technologies IncPLTR	VUG +0.13 points	0.97%	1.10%
Netflix IncNFLX	VUG +0.03 points	0.75%	0.78%

All 52 QQQG 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.

QQQG vs VUG Cost

Overpaying QQQG vs VUG

$9,154

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

QQQG 0.49%
$9,792
VUG 0.03%
$638

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

QQQG 0.49%
VUG 0.03%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	QQQG	VUG	Overpaying
10	$883	$55	$828
20	$3,394	$216	$3,178
30	$9,792	$638	$9,154

Expense ratio

0.49%QQQG
0.03%VUG, cheaper

VUG0.03%QQQG0.49%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

VUG cheapest of 35 funds

QQQG 28th cheapest of 35 funds

QQQG vs VUG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): QQQG 0.07%; VUG 0.41%, better
Payout (12M): QQQG $0.02; VUG $0.35
Last payment: QQQG $0.01; VUG $0.09
Ex-dividend: QQQG Sep 3, 2026; VUG Sep 28, 2026
Paid on: QQQG Sep 8, 2026; VUG Sep 30, 2026
Frequency: QQQG Quarterly; VUG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

QQQGQuarterly · 8 paymentsAll QQQG payments⁠

VUGQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll VUG payments⁠

QQQG vs VUG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: QQQG 23.3%since Sep 2024VUG 17.3%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: QQQG 0.61since Sep 2024VUG 1.11
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: QQQG −23.6%since Aug 2024VUG −35.6%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: QQQG 1.41VUG 1.23; Market = 1

QQQG 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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