ESPO vs HERO: which is really different?
ESPO and HERO hold 60% of their weight in the same names. VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF and Global X Video Games & Esports ETF.
6% of ESPO's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 94% is outside the index
0% of HERO's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 100% is outside the index
A percentile among the 375 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All thematic ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, ESPO and HERO hold 60% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026.
half
60% in common
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.
60% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
Performance, window by window
| Total return | vs the S&P 500 | vs the Nasdaq-100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | ESPO | HERO | ESPO | HERO | ESPO | HERO |
| 3 months | +5.7% | +6.9% | +3.2 pts | +4.4 pts | +3.6 pts | +4.8 pts |
| 6 months | +6.1% | +3.0% | −10.8 pts | −14.0 pts | −20.7 pts | −23.9 pts |
| 1 year | −19.4% | −19.5% | −35.1 pts | −35.2 pts | −43.2 pts | −43.3 pts |
| 3 years | +92.2% | +49.4% | +7.2 pts | −35.6 pts | −17.8 pts | −60.6 pts |
| Since launch ESPO Oct 2018 · HERO Oct 2019 | +238.3% | +89.1% | +31.6 pts | −88.9 pts | −101.0 pts | −202.6 pts |
ESPO and HERO over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →
On the same fields
ESPO and HERO on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
ESPO in plain words
By weight, 6% of ESPO's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 25 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 30, 2026. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 the fund returned −19.4% with distributions reinvested against +15.7% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 35.1 pts. It sits 20.1% below its all-time high of Sep 17, 2025.
HERO in plain words
By weight, 0% of HERO's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 57% of the fund across 44 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 30, 2026. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 the fund returned −19.5% with distributions reinvested against +15.7% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 35.2 pts. It sits 23.8% below its all-time high of Feb 12, 2021.
Questions people ask
- Do ESPO and HERO hold the same stocks?
- By their latest filings, 60% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is close to holding one of them twice. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
ETFIQ, ESPO against HERO, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/espo-vs-hero
Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, ESPO against HERO, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/espo-vs-hero Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
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- ETFIQ. (Sep 30, 2026). ESPO against HERO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/espo-vs-hero
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