SPYG vs VUG

SPYGAState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

VUGAVanguard Morningstar 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.

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

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.

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

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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 SPYG profile⁠

Full VUG profile⁠