Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
VOO vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VOO returned +13.7% to VPU's −3.3%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Sep 30, 2026: $1.0tn for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and $7.7bn for Vanguard Utilities ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.0 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $7.7bn.
| Measure | VOO | VPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.7% | −3.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.0tn | $7.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 39.1% | 52.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 840 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: VOO against IVV, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; VPU against FUTY, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
VOO returned more: +804.0% to +378.5%. VOO swung slightly less: 15.9% to 17.0%. VOO and VPU fell about the same at their worst: −31.8% and −32.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | VOO | VPU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +804.0% | +378.5% | VOO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.6% | +10.2% | VOO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +575.9% | +180.1% | VOO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.9% | 17.0% | VOO (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.9% | 11.7% | VOO (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.8% | −32.4% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.9% | 100.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.84 | 0.56 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.22 | 0.82 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.134 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.46 | 0.31 | VOO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | FUTY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.51 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.1% to +0.2% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.02 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 0.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 840 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, VOO and VPU hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
VOO and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
VOO and VPU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. VOO follows S&P 500 Index and VPU follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 VOO returned +13.7% and VPU −3.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 17.0 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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VOO
VOO tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 507 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.
VPU
VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VOO or VPU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VOO returned +13.7% and VPU −3.3%.
- Which is cheaper, VOO or VPU?
- VOO is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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, VOO against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/voo-vs-vpu
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). VOO against VPU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/voo-vs-vpu
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