SMH vs VUG: how much do they really overlap?
SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF, tracking the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25) and VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF, tracking the CRSP US Large Cap Growth) overlap by roughly 27% by weight. 6 of SMH's top 10 holdings also appear in VUG. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 21 equally-weighted bets (diversification grade C). In short, the two funds share a meaningful core of the same megacaps, but each also brings real exposure the other lacks.
The same companies, in both funds
These 10 holdings appear in both SMH and VUG. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in SMH | in VUG |
|---|---|---|
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation | 18.16% | 13.10% |
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 5.49% | 5.17% |
| AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 5.44% | 2.30% |
| LRCX Lam Research Corporation | 5.00% | 1.09% |
| KLAC KLA Corporation | 4.94% | 0.70% |
| MRVL Marvell Technology, Inc. | 4.49% | 0.51% |
| AMAT Applied Materials, Inc. | 5.35% | 0.50% |
| TXN Texas Instruments Incorporated | 4.29% | 0.39% |
| CDNS Cadence Design Systems, Inc. | 2.33% | 0.30% |
| SNPS Synopsys, Inc. | 1.96% | 0.26% |
Only in SMH
VanEck Semiconductor ETF — semiconductors. Its biggest holdings that VUG doesn’t have:
| TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited | 9.04% |
| MU Micron Technology, Inc. | 5.99% |
| INTC Intel Corporation | 5.09% |
| ASML ASML Holding N.V. | 4.89% |
| ADI Analog Devices, Inc. | 4.19% |
| QCOM QUALCOMM Incorporated | 4.12% |
| TER Teradyne, Inc. | 1.45% |
| STM STMicroelectronics N.V. | 1.29% |
Only in VUG
Vanguard Growth ETF — US large-cap growth. Its biggest holdings that SMH doesn’t have:
| AAPL Apple Inc. | 12.32% |
| MSFT Microsoft Corp. | 8.99% |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. Class A | 5.95% |
| AMZN Amazon.com Inc. | 4.85% |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. Class C | 4.68% |
| META Facebook Inc. Class A | 3.73% |
| TSLA Tesla Inc. | 3.31% |
| LLY Eli Lilly & Co. | 2.53% |
So — partly overlapping. Should you hold both?
SMH and VUG share a meaningful core of the same megacaps, but each also brings real exposure the other lacks. Held together they keep a shared megacap core but each still pulls in exposure the other lacks, so a 50/50 blend spreads to ~21 effective positions (grade C).
Holdings as of — SMH: Jun 27, 2026 (VanEck); VUG: 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 →SMH vs VUG — FAQ
- How much do SMH and VUG overlap?
- SMH and VUG overlap by approximately 27% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 6 of SMH's 10 largest holdings are also held by VUG. They share 10 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both SMH and VUG?
- Because they share a meaningful core of the same megacaps, but each also brings real exposure the other lacks, holding both is partly redundant: you double up on a shared core (NVDA) while each fund still adds distinct exposure. A 50/50 blend has an effective 21 positions and a C diversification grade.
- What does VUG hold that SMH doesn't?
- VUG's largest holdings that SMH doesn't hold include AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, GOOG. Its category is US large-cap growth, versus SMH's semiconductors.
- Which is more concentrated, SMH or VUG?
- SMH's top 10 holdings are 69% of its listed weight; VUG's are 73%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.