VO vs VWO: how much do they really overlap?
VO (Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF, tracking the CRSP US Mid Cap) and VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, tracking the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap) overlap by roughly 0% by weight. 0 of VO's top 10 holdings also appear in VWO. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 137 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 VO and VWO. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VO | in VWO |
|---|
Only in VO
Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF — US mid-cap. Its biggest holdings that VWO doesn’t have:
| VRT Vertiv Holdings Co. Class A | 1.22% |
| WDC Western Digital Corp. | 1.06% |
| STX Seagate Technology Holdings plc | 1.04% |
| PWR Quanta Services Inc. | 1.04% |
| HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc. | 1.04% |
| CMI Cummins Inc. | 0.95% |
| DDOG Datadog Inc. Class A | 0.83% |
| BE Bloom Energy Corp. Class A | 0.79% |
Only in VWO
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF — emerging markets. Its biggest holdings that VO doesn’t have:
| 2330 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. | 15.64% |
| 700 Tencent Holdings Ltd. | 2.82% |
| 9988 Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. | 1.79% |
| 2454 MediaTek Inc. | 1.63% |
| 2308 Delta Electronics Inc. | 0.99% |
| 2317 Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. | 0.79% |
| HDFCBANK HDFC Bank Ltd. | 0.79% |
| RELIANCE Reliance Industries Ltd. | 0.75% |
So — essentially different. Should you hold both?
VO and VWO hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~137 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VO: Jun 30, 2026 (Vanguard); VWO: Jun 30, 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 →VO vs VWO — FAQ
- How much do VO and VWO overlap?
- VO and VWO 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 VO's 10 largest holdings are also held by VWO. They share 0 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VO and VWO?
- 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 137 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VWO hold that VO doesn't?
- VWO's largest holdings that VO doesn't hold include 2330, 700, 9988, 2454, 2308. Its category is emerging markets, versus VO's US mid-cap.
- Which is more concentrated, VO or VWO?
- VO's top 10 holdings are 27% of its listed weight; VWO's are 67%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.