VUG vs VYM: how much do they really overlap?
VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF, tracking the CRSP US Large Cap Growth) and VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, tracking the FTSE High Dividend Yield) overlap by roughly 11% by weight. 1 of VUG's top 10 holdings also appear in VYM. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 58 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 5 holdings appear in both VUG and VYM. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VUG | in VYM |
|---|---|---|
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 4.27% | 7.29% |
| ORCL Oracle Corp. | 0.71% | 1.04% |
| MCD McDonald's Corp. | 0.54% | 0.80% |
| TXN Texas Instruments Inc. | 0.39% | 1.12% |
| SBUX Starbucks Corp. | 0.34% | 0.48% |
Only in VUG
Vanguard Growth ETF — US large-cap growth. Its biggest holdings that VYM doesn’t have:
| NVDA NVIDIA Corp. | 12.60% |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | 11.64% |
| MSFT Microsoft Corp. | 7.60% |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. Class A | 5.74% |
| GOOG Alphabet Inc. Class C | 4.52% |
| AMZN Amazon.com Inc. | 4.46% |
| META Facebook Inc. Class A | 3.40% |
| TSLA Tesla Inc. | 3.26% |
Only in VYM
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — US high-dividend. Its biggest holdings that VUG doesn’t have:
| JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 3.38% |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 2.54% |
| XOM Exxon Mobil Corp. | 2.36% |
| CAT Caterpillar Inc. | 2.01% |
| CSCO Cisco Systems Inc. | 1.92% |
| ABBV AbbVie Inc. | 1.85% |
| BAC Bank of America Corp. | 1.56% |
| UNH UnitedHealth Group Inc. | 1.56% |
So — mostly different. Should you hold both?
VUG 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 ~58 effective positions (grade B), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VUG: Jun 30, 2026 (Vanguard); VYM: 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 →VUG vs VYM — FAQ
- How much do VUG and VYM overlap?
- VUG and VYM overlap by approximately 11% measured by portfolio weight — that is the share of the smaller fund's holdings (by weight) that also sit inside the other. 1 of VUG's 10 largest holdings are also held by VYM. They share 5 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VUG 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 58 positions and a B diversification grade.
- What does VYM hold that VUG doesn't?
- VYM's largest holdings that VUG doesn't hold include JPM, JNJ, XOM, CAT, CSCO. Its category is US high-dividend, versus VUG's US large-cap growth.
- Which is more concentrated, VUG or VYM?
- VUG's top 10 holdings are 69% of its listed weight; VYM's are 45%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.