NUGO vs VUG: Differences, Returns & Fees
NUGO and VUG hold 61% of their weight in the same names, and VUG returned +10.2% over the year. Net assets: $2.4bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Nuveen Growth Opportunities ETF, and $232.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF.
VUG costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.6 points.
| NUGO | VUG | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.50% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, NUGO as of Jul 31, 2026 and VUG as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.4bn | $232.9bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +7.6% | +10.2% |
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Morningstar US Large Cap Growth Index |
| Holdings in common | 61% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 62.4% | 63.1% |
| Below its high | 6.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | 4.3%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
NUGO and VUG are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. NUGO follows No index, actively managed and VUG follows Morningstar US Large Cap Growth Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 20, 2026 NUGO returned +7.6% and VUG +10.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.6 points.
- Number of holdings. NUGO holds 44 positions and VUG holds 137.
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, NUGO and VUG hold 61% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
half
61% in common
On the same fields
NUGO and VUG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About NUGO
NUGO is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 62.4%. It sat 6.0% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +7.6% with distributions reinvested, against +4.0% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index.
About VUG
VUG tracks an index of US growth. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +10.2% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 137 positions, with the top ten at 63.1%. It sat 4.3% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, NUGO or VUG?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, NUGO returned +7.6% and VUG +10.2%.
- Which is cheaper, NUGO or VUG?
- VUG is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 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.
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ETFIQ, NUGO against VUG, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-vug
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). NUGO against VUG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-vug
[NUGO against VUG (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nugo-vs-vug)
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