VUG vs VXUS: how much do they really overlap?
VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF, tracking the CRSP US Large Cap Growth) and VXUS (Vanguard Total International Stock ETF, tracking the FTSE Global All Cap ex US) overlap by roughly 0% by weight. 0 of VUG's top 10 holdings also appear in VXUS. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 67 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 VUG and VXUS. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VUG | in VXUS |
|---|
Only in VUG
Vanguard Growth ETF — US large-cap growth. Its biggest holdings that VXUS doesn’t have:
| NVDA NVIDIA Corp. | 13.10% |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | 12.32% |
| MSFT Microsoft Corp. | 8.99% |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. Class A | 5.95% |
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 5.17% |
| AMZN Amazon.com Inc. | 4.85% |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. Class C | 4.68% |
| META Facebook Inc. Class A | 3.73% |
Only in VXUS
Vanguard Total International Stock ETF — total ex-US. Its biggest holdings that VUG doesn’t have:
| 2330 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. | 3.95% |
| 005930 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. | 2.17% |
| 000660 SK hynix Inc | 1.85% |
| ASML ASML Holding NV | 1.38% |
| 700 Tencent Holdings Ltd. | 0.74% |
| HSBA HSBC Holdings plc | 0.71% |
| ROP Roche Holding AG | 0.65% |
| NOVN Novartis AG | 0.63% |
So — essentially different. Should you hold both?
VUG and VXUS hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~67 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VUG: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard); VXUS: 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 →VUG vs VXUS — FAQ
- How much do VUG and VXUS overlap?
- VUG and VXUS 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 VUG's 10 largest holdings are also held by VXUS. They share 0 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VUG and VXUS?
- 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 67 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VXUS hold that VUG doesn't?
- VXUS's largest holdings that VUG doesn't hold include 2330, 005930, 000660, ASML, 700. Its category is total ex-US, versus VUG's US large-cap growth.
- Which is more concentrated, VUG or VXUS?
- VUG's top 10 holdings are 73% of its listed weight; VXUS's are 49%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.