Many investors know about the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, one of the easiest ways to invest in the broader market. But Vanguard actually has more than 80 different exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that meet a varied list of investor criteria.
As you might imagine, its growth ETFs are performing exceptionally well this year. That’s typical when the market itself does well. When the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is up, growth stocks, as a category, usually beat it. When it’s down, growth stocks underperform. It’s the opposite for value stocks, which tend to do better when the market is down but may underperform when the market is up.
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Vanguard has several growth ETFs, and the one that is performing above all the rest this year is the S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VOOG). Let’s see why, and whether or not it’s still a buy for 2025.
Growth + diversification = a top ETF
The S&P 500 Growth ETF, like all of Vanguard’s ETFs, tracks an index. This ETF tracks the S&P 500 Growth index, a group of about 230 of the highest-growth stocks in the benchmark.
While it’s clearly not as diversified as the S&P 500, 230 stocks still make for quite a diverse portfolio. That provides a safety cushion. And because it’s not actively managed, investors don’t have to sit there and choose their own 230 stocks. They also don’t have to worry about selling duds and making more effort to find replacements. That’s a general benefit of buying an ETF.
Image source: Getty Images.
This ETF has an expense ratio of 0.1% as compared with 0.95% for similar ETFs. It’s actually one of Vanguard’s most expensive ETFs, but it’s also a top performer. It’s up 36% in 2024, beating the market’s 25% increase and leading all of Vanguard’s 88 ETFs.
Beating the market in good times and overall
As mentioned above, it’s not surprising that growth stocks are outperforming the market right now. But what’s compelling about the S&P 500 Growth ETF is that it has a better long-term track record, with an annualized gain of 16.4%, than the standard S&P 500 ETF’s 14.9% over similar periods of time.
Here’s how it would look if you had invested $10,000 in each of those ETFs when they started.
VOOG Total Return Level data by YCharts.
Can it repeat in 2025?
Since the ETF follows a weighted index, the highest market-cap stocks account for a disproportional amount of the total. The five largest stocks in the portfolio, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms, account for 45.8% of the total. On the other side, about half of the stocks each account for 0.1% or less of the total.
Today, these large companies are performing extremely well and have massive opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI). So by default, growth ETFs not only give investors exposure to the most profitable AI trends but also shield them from a lot of risk associated with investing in a single stock or less diversified fund. It also has plenty of established and stable stocks, like Visa and Costco Wholesale, which balance out some of the riskier stocks. Vanguard gives this ETF a risk rating of 4 out of 5, which is high, but not the highest.
Considering today’s tech opportunities in AI, I think the S&P 500 Growth ETF is likely to keep climbing in 2025. Its excellent long-term record assures me it’s a sound investment for most investors, whatever the next year holds.
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John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jennifer Saibil has positions in Apple. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Apple, Costco Wholesale, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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