SPYG vs VBK

SPYGAState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

VBKAVanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

In short

SPYG The growth half of the S&P 500 for 0.04% a year, running since 2000. No exotic screen, no reinvention: just the index's fastest-growing names, in the cheapest wrapper tracking that index.

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

SPYG The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the S&P 500 Growth Index. It provides exposure to S&P 500 companies selected for strong growth characteristics.

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

• SPYG Costs 0.04% a year, well under the typical fee in the US growth-ETF group.
• The cheapest way to buy the S&P 500 Growth Index: VOOG follows the same benchmark at 0.07%.
• Has tracked its index tightly, one of the strongest implementations among growth funds we grade.
• Trading since 2000, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands actively, so spreads stay thin. Pays quarterly.

• 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

• SPYG About 150 stocks, not 500. You get the growth slice, which means heavier single-name and sector concentration than the full index.
• The index screens on growth and momentum, so rebalances lean into names that have already run and the ride is bumpier than the broad market.
• Large-cap US only. No small caps, no international, no bonds.

• 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 SPYG profile⁠

Full VBK profile⁠