Data as of Sep 13, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VNQ vs VUG: how they differ
VNQ and VUG hold 1% of their weight in the same names, and VUG returned more over the year.
Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund and Vanguard Growth Index Fund.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VNQ and VUG hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | VNQ | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| Welltower Inc | 7.86% | 0.46% |
| Equinix Inc | 5.66% | 0.30% |
| Realty Income Corp | 3.12% | 0.10% |
| SBA Communications Corp | 1.25% | 0.07% |
| CoStar Group Inc | 0.78% | 0.03% |
| Only in VNQ | Only in VUG |
|---|---|
| Vanguard Real Estate II Index Fund 14.67% | NVIDIA Corp 12.63% |
| Prologis Inc 7.02% | Apple Inc 11.67% |
| American Tower Corp 4.55% | Microsoft Corp 7.62% |
| Digital Realty Trust Inc 3.67% | Alphabet Inc 5.76% |
| Simon Property Group Inc 3.54% | Alphabet Inc 4.54% |
| Public Storage 2.54% | Amazon.com Inc 4.47% |
| CBRE Group Inc 2.26% | Broadcom Inc 4.29% |
| Ventas Inc 2.20% | 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 Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
| VNQ Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund | VUG Vanguard Growth Index Fund | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | Vanguard |
| What it is | US real estate | US growth |
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | +12.9% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | −11.9 pts | −4.6 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.13% | 0.03% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 63.3% | 97.4% |
| Holdings | 146 | 147 |
VNQ in plain words
VNQ is an index equity fund tracking the US real estate. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +5.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 63% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 146 positions, with the top ten at 54.9%. It sat 6.1% below its high of Jul 28, 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, VNQ or VUG?
- In the year to Sep 13, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VNQ returned +5.6% and VUG returned +12.9%, so VUG returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VNQ or VUG?
- VNQ charges 0.13% a year and VUG charges 0.03%, so VUG is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VNQ and VUG overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 63% of VNQ and 97% of VUG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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Where these figures came from
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Cite this page. ETFIQ, VNQ against VUG, data as of Sep 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/vnq-vs-vug Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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