COWG vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
COWG and VO hold 9% of their weight in the same names. Net assets: $2.4bn on Oct 2, 2026 for Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF, and $103.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF.
VO costs 0.46 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points.
| COWG | VO | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, COWG as of Oct 2, 2026 and VO as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.4bn | $103.4bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +12.2% | +12.4% |
| What it tracks | Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index | Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index) |
| Holdings in common | 9% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 28.4% | 9.7% |
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Oct 9, 2026 | 3.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
COWG and VO are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. COWG follows Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index and VO follows Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index).
- Holdings in common. 9% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- Cost. COWG charges 0.49% of assets a year and VO 0.03%, a gap of 0.46 points.
Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.
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What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, COWG and VO hold 9% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
half
9% in common
On the same fields
COWG and VO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About COWG
COWG tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 65% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 100 positions, with the top ten at 28.4%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Oct 9, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.
About VO
VO tracks an index of Mid-Cap. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +12.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 273 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 3.8% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, COWG or VO?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, COWG returned +12.2% and VO +12.4%.
- Which is cheaper, COWG or VO?
- VO is cheaper, by 0.46 percentage points a year. That is about $46 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, COWG against VO, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-vo
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). COWG against VO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-vo
[COWG against VO (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-vo)
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