Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VHT vs VUG: how they differ
VHT and VUG hold 5% of their weight in the same names, and VHT returned more over the year.
Vanguard Health Care Index Fund and Vanguard Growth Index Fund.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VHT and VUG hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | VHT | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly & Co | 14.07% | 2.81% |
| Intuitive Surgical Inc | 2.39% | 0.40% |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1.80% | 0.36% |
| Stryker Corp | 1.66% | 0.17% |
| IDEXX Laboratories Inc | 0.71% | 0.13% |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc | 0.63% | 0.13% |
| Boston Scientific Corp | 1.14% | 0.10% |
| ResMed Inc | 0.44% | 0.10% |
| Veeva Systems Inc | 0.43% | 0.09% |
| Mettler-Toledo International Inc | 0.38% | 0.09% |
| West Pharmaceutical Services Inc | 0.37% | 0.09% |
| Dexcom Inc | 0.46% | 0.09% |
| Only in VHT | Only in VUG |
|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson 8.48% | NVIDIA Corp 12.63% |
| AbbVie Inc 6.10% | Apple Inc 11.67% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc 5.46% | Microsoft Corp 7.62% |
| Merck & Co Inc 4.67% | Alphabet Inc 5.76% |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc 2.93% | Alphabet Inc 4.54% |
| Amgen Inc 2.87% | Amazon.com Inc 4.47% |
| Gilead Sciences Inc 2.64% | Broadcom Inc 4.29% |
| Abbott Laboratories 2.36% | Meta Platforms Inc 3.41% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
| VHT Vanguard Health Care Index Fund | VUG Vanguard Growth Index Fund | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | Vanguard |
| What it is | Health Care | US growth |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.6% | +12.9% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +4.1 pts | −4.6 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 85.6% | 97.4% |
| Holdings | 401 | 147 |
VHT in plain words
VHT is an index equity fund tracking the Health Care. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +21.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 401 positions, with the top ten at 52.0%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Aug 19, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
VUG in plain words
VUG is an index equity fund tracking the US growth. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +12.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 147 positions, with the top ten at 60.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VHT or VUG?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VHT returned +21.6% and VUG returned +12.9%, so VHT returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VHT or VUG?
- VHT charges 0.09% a year and VUG charges 0.03%, so VUG is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VHT and VUG overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 86% of VHT and 97% of VUG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 5% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Other comparisons
Where to next
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, VHT against VUG, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/VHT-VUG Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources