ITOT vs VYM: how much do they really overlap?
ITOT (iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF, tracking the S&P Total Market) and VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, tracking the FTSE High Dividend Yield) overlap by roughly 25% by weight. 1 of ITOT's top 10 holdings also appear in VYM. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 109 equally-weighted bets (diversification grade A). In short, the two funds have only a small shared core — they mostly hold different things and are largely complementary.
The same companies, in both funds
These 23 holdings appear in both ITOT and VYM. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in ITOT | in VYM |
|---|---|---|
| AVGO BROADCOM INC | 2.45% | 8.51% |
| JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO | 1.20% | 3.14% |
| JNJ JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 0.84% | 2.24% |
| XOM EXXON MOBIL CORP | 0.77% | 2.53% |
| CAT CATERPILLAR INC | 0.67% | 1.67% |
| CSCO CISCO SYSTEMS INC | 0.63% | 1.98% |
| ABBV ABBVIE INC | 0.61% | 1.59% |
| UNH UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC | 0.52% | 1.43% |
| BAC BANK OF AMERICA CORP | 0.51% | 1.40% |
| HD HOME DEPOT INC | 0.48% | 1.30% |
| PG PROCTER & GAMBLE | 0.47% | 1.39% |
| MRK MERCK & CO INC | 0.43% | 1.22% |
| KO COCA-COLA | 0.43% | 1.27% |
| CVX CHEVRON CORP | 0.42% | 1.41% |
| GS GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC | 0.41% | 1.18% |
+ 8 more shared holdings.
Only in ITOT
iShares Core S&P Total US Stock Market ETF — total US market. Its biggest holdings that VYM doesn’t have:
| NVDA NVIDIA CORP | 6.63% |
| AAPL APPLE INC | 5.81% |
| MSFT MICROSOFT CORP | 3.79% |
| AMZN AMAZON.COM INC | 3.19% |
| GOOGL ALPHABET INC CLASS A | 2.86% |
| GOOG ALPHABET INC CLASS C | 2.29% |
| MU MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | 1.78% |
| META META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A | 1.69% |
Only in VYM
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — US high-dividend. Its biggest holdings that ITOT doesn’t have:
| QCOM QUALCOMM Inc. | 1.11% |
| C Citigroup Inc. | 0.85% |
| ADI Analog Devices Inc. | 0.83% |
| VZ Verizon Communications Inc. | 0.83% |
| MCD McDonald's Corp. | 0.82% |
| PEP PepsiCo Inc. | 0.81% |
| NEE NextEra Energy Inc. | 0.75% |
| DIS Walt Disney Co. | 0.75% |
So — mostly different. Should you hold both?
ITOT and VYM have only a small shared core — they mostly hold different things and are largely complementary. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~109 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — ITOT: Jun 30, 2026 (iShares (BlackRock)); VYM: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard). Refreshed monthly. Overlap is measured across each fund’s largest holdings (top 50); the diffuse long tail barely moves the math.
See this for YOUR whole portfolio, free →ITOT vs VYM — FAQ
- How much do ITOT and VYM overlap?
- ITOT and VYM overlap by approximately 25% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 1 of ITOT's 10 largest holdings are also held by VYM. They share 23 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both ITOT and VYM?
- Because they have only a small shared core — they mostly hold different things and are largely complementary, holding both is not redundant — each fund covers largely different holdings, so together they broaden your exposure. A 50/50 blend has an effective 109 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VYM hold that ITOT doesn't?
- VYM's largest holdings that ITOT doesn't hold include QCOM, C, ADI, VZ, MCD. Its category is US high-dividend, versus ITOT's total US market.
- Which is more concentrated, ITOT or VYM?
- ITOT's top 10 holdings are 58% of its listed weight; VYM's are 44%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.