SMH vs VYM: how much do they really overlap?
SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF, tracking the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25) and VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, tracking the FTSE High Dividend Yield) overlap by roughly 15% by weight. 1 of SMH's top 10 holdings also appear in VYM. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 41 equally-weighted bets (diversification grade B). 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 4 holdings appear in both SMH and VYM. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in SMH | in VYM |
|---|---|---|
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 5.49% | 8.51% |
| TXN Texas Instruments Incorporated | 4.29% | 1.15% |
| QCOM QUALCOMM Incorporated | 4.12% | 1.11% |
| ADI Analog Devices, Inc. | 4.19% | 0.83% |
Only in SMH
VanEck Semiconductor ETF — semiconductors. Its biggest holdings that VYM doesn’t have:
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation | 18.16% |
| TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited | 9.04% |
| MU Micron Technology, Inc. | 5.99% |
| AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | 5.44% |
| AMAT Applied Materials, Inc. | 5.35% |
| INTC Intel Corporation | 5.09% |
| LRCX Lam Research Corporation | 5.00% |
| KLAC KLA Corporation | 4.94% |
Only in VYM
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — US high-dividend. Its biggest holdings that SMH doesn’t have:
| JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 3.14% |
| XOM Exxon Mobil Corp. | 2.53% |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 2.24% |
| CSCO Cisco Systems Inc. | 1.98% |
| CAT Caterpillar Inc. | 1.67% |
| ABBV AbbVie Inc. | 1.59% |
| ORCL Oracle Corp. | 1.57% |
| UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc. | 1.43% |
So — mostly different. Should you hold both?
SMH 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 ~41 effective positions (grade B), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — SMH: Jun 27, 2026 (VanEck); 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 →SMH vs VYM — FAQ
- How much do SMH and VYM overlap?
- SMH and VYM overlap by approximately 15% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 1 of SMH's 10 largest holdings are also held by VYM. They share 4 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both SMH 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 41 positions and a B diversification grade.
- What does VYM hold that SMH doesn't?
- VYM's largest holdings that SMH doesn't hold include JPM, XOM, JNJ, CSCO, CAT. Its category is US high-dividend, versus SMH's semiconductors.
- Which is more concentrated, SMH or VYM?
- SMH's top 10 holdings are 69% of its listed weight; VYM's are 44%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.