Which Is the Better Growth ETF, Vanguard's Large-Cap VOOG or State Street's Small-Cap SLYG?

8 hours ago 2

Robert Izquierdo, The Motley Fool

Wed, May 20, 2026 astatine 9:01 AM CDT 4 min read

The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:VOOG) provides low-cost vulnerability to large-cap maturation giants, portion the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:SLYG) offers targeted entree to the small-cap segment.

This examination highlights the cardinal differences betwixt investing successful established marketplace leaders and emerging smaller companies. The Vanguard money focuses connected large-cap maturation engines, portion the State Street money seeks enlargement imaginable among smaller enterprises, creating chiseled profiles for hazard and full return.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Metric

SLYG

VOOG

Issuer	SPDR	Vanguard
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.07%
1-yr instrumentality (as of May 18, 2026)	21.70%	31.50%
Dividend yield	0.70%	0.47%
Beta	1.06	1.17
AUM	~$4.6 billion	~$24.2 billion

Beta measures terms volatility comparative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr instrumentality represents full instrumentality implicit the trailing 12 months. Dividend output is the trailing-12-month organisation yield.

Investors could find the Vanguard money much affordable, arsenic its disbursal ratio is 0.07% versus 0.15% for the State Street fund. The Vanguard money besides offers a importantly higher AUM for progressive traders.

Performance & hazard examination

Metric

SLYG

VOOG

Max drawdown (5 yr)	(29.20%)	(32.70%)
Growth of $1,000 implicit 5 years (total return)	$1,324	$2,104

What's wrong

The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF concentrates connected large-cap leaders, with assemblage weights including exertion astatine 48%, connection services astatine 17%, and fiscal services astatine 10%. It manages 212 holdings and was launched successful 2010. Its largest positions see NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) astatine 14.54%, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) astatine 9.08%, and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) astatine 6.72%. The money has paid $1.72 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months.

In contrast, the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT:SLYG) targets the small-cap conception with 343 holdings and was launched successful 2000. Its allocation features exertion astatine 20%, industrials astatine 20%, and healthcare astatine 15%. Its largest positions see Sanmina (NASDAQ:SANM) astatine 1.57%, Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV) astatine 1.45%, and Argan (NYSE:AGX) astatine 1.22%. It has paid $0.77 per stock implicit the trailing 12 months.

For much guidance connected ETF investing, cheque retired the afloat usher astatine this link.

What this means for investors

Investing successful maturation stocks is simply a large mode to execute beardown returns successful a portfolio. The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG) and the State Street SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Growth ETF (SLYG) instrumentality antithetic approaches to execute this. Choosing betwixt these ETFs comes down to which strategy fits amended with your concern goals.

Read Entire Article