VB vs VNQ: how much do they really overlap?
VB (Vanguard Small-Cap ETF, tracking the CRSP US Small Cap) and VNQ (Vanguard Real Estate ETF, tracking the MSCI US IMI Real Estate 25/50) overlap by roughly 0% by weight. 0 of VB's top 10 holdings also appear in VNQ. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 86 equally-weighted bets (diversification grade A). In short, the two funds hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant.
The same companies, in both funds
These 0 holdings appear in both VB and VNQ. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VB | in VNQ |
|---|
Only in VB
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF — US small-cap. Its biggest holdings that VNQ doesn’t have:
| FLEX Flex Ltd. | 0.69% |
| ALAB Astera Labs Inc. | 0.62% |
| CIEN Ciena Corp. | 0.51% |
| RKLB Rocket Lab Corp. | 0.50% |
| CRDO Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. | 0.48% |
| BE Bloom Energy Corp. Class A | 0.47% |
| EME EMCOR Group Inc. | 0.46% |
| JBL Jabil Inc. | 0.45% |
Only in VNQ
Vanguard Real Estate ETF — US real estate. Its biggest holdings that VB doesn’t have:
| VRTPX Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares | 14.54% |
| WELL Welltower Inc. | 7.68% |
| PLD Prologis Inc. | 7.17% |
| EQIX Equinix Inc. | 5.65% |
| AMT American Tower Corp. | 4.67% |
| SPG Simon Property Group Inc. | 3.57% |
| DLR Digital Realty Trust Inc. | 3.50% |
| O Realty Income Corp. | 3.04% |
So — essentially different. Should you hold both?
VB and VNQ hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~86 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VB: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard); VNQ: 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 →VB vs VNQ — FAQ
- How much do VB and VNQ overlap?
- VB and VNQ overlap by approximately 0% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 0 of VB's 10 largest holdings are also held by VNQ. They share 0 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VB and VNQ?
- Because they hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant, holding both is not redundant — each fund covers largely different holdings, so together they broaden your exposure. A 50/50 blend has an effective 86 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VNQ hold that VB doesn't?
- VNQ's largest holdings that VB doesn't hold include VRTPX, WELL, PLD, EQIX, AMT. Its category is US real estate, versus VB's US small-cap.
- Which is more concentrated, VB or VNQ?
- VB's top 10 holdings are 29% of its listed weight; VNQ's are 62%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.