VWO vs VYM: how much do they really overlap?
VWO (Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, tracking the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap) and VYM (Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, tracking the FTSE High Dividend Yield) overlap by roughly 0% by weight. 0 of VWO's top 10 holdings also appear in VYM. A 50/50 blend of the two behaves like about 106 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 VWO and VYM. The weight columns show how much of each fund each name represents.
| Holding | in VWO | in VYM |
|---|
Only in VWO
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF — emerging markets. Its biggest holdings that VYM doesn’t have:
| 2330 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. | 14.64% |
| 700 Tencent Holdings Ltd. | 2.74% |
| 9988 Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. | 2.26% |
| 2454 MediaTek Inc. | 1.62% |
| 2308 Delta Electronics Inc. | 1.20% |
| 2317 Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd. | 0.90% |
| RELIANCE Reliance Industries Ltd. | 0.77% |
| 939 China Construction Bank Corp. Class H | 0.77% |
Only in VYM
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — US high-dividend. Its biggest holdings that VWO doesn’t have:
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 8.51% |
| 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% |
So — essentially different. Should you hold both?
VWO and VYM hold almost none of the same securities — they are complementary, not redundant. Held together they genuinely broaden your exposure — a 50/50 blend reaches ~106 effective positions (grade A), because they hold largely different securities.
Holdings as of — VWO: May 31, 2026 (Vanguard); 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 →VWO vs VYM — FAQ
- How much do VWO and VYM overlap?
- VWO and VYM 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 VWO's 10 largest holdings are also held by VYM. They share 0 of their listed top holdings in total.
- Is it redundant to hold both VWO and VYM?
- 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 106 positions and a A diversification grade.
- What does VYM hold that VWO doesn't?
- VYM's largest holdings that VWO doesn't hold include AVGO, JPM, XOM, JNJ, CSCO. Its category is US high-dividend, versus VWO's emerging markets.
- Which is more concentrated, VWO or VYM?
- VWO's top 10 holdings are 66% of its listed weight; VYM's are 44%. The more concentrated fund leans harder on its largest names.