Wealthy PotVIG vs VUG: Dividend Growers vs Growth Stocks, With Only 27% in Common
VIG and VUG are both cheap Vanguard ETFs, but they own mostly different companies and behave differently. VIG holds US companies that have raised their dividend every year for at least ten years. VUG holds large US growth companies, whether or not they pay a dividend. Their overlap in the latest SEC filings was only 27.3%: Apple, Microsoft, Broadcom, Eli Lilly and a few others. VIG charges 0.04% and VUG 0.03%. Over the ten years to 30 September 2026, VUG returned 17.94% a year and VIG 12.86%, but VIG fell less in the worst quarters and pays about four times the dividend yield. Holding both is reasonable, because they cover different parts of the market.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- Overlap: 27.3%. 32 companies were in both funds, worth 34.7% of VIG and 37.9% of VUG. Our calculation from the funds' latest SEC holdings filings (VIG 31 July 2026, VUG 30 June 2026).
- Fees: VIG 0.04%, VUG 0.03%. $4 against $3 a year on $10,000.
- Holdings: 333 vs 147 stocks at 31 August 2026.
- Top ten: 31.9% vs 63.1% of the fund at 30 June 2026. VIG is far more spread out.
- Ten-year return to 30 September 2026: VUG 17.94%, VIG 12.86% a year at NAV. VUG led over one, three and five years as well.
- Risk: VIG is calmer. Three-year standard deviation 10.68% against 17.42%; worst prospectus quarter -16.79% against -22.42%.
- Income: VIG yields 1.51%, VUG 0.35% (30-day SEC yields at 30 September 2026).
What VIG and VUG Have in Common
Both funds file their complete portfolios with the SEC. VIG's latest filing in our data is dated 31 July 2026 and VUG's 30 June 2026, a month apart. We matched them with the same data behind our Portfolio Overlap Checker.
| Latest N-PORT filings | VIG (31 Jul 2026) | VUG (30 Jun 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Stock holdings in the filing | 330 | 144 |
| Held by both funds | 32 | 32 |
| Share of the fund in those shared holdings | 34.7% | 37.9% |
| Holdings the other fund did not own | 298 (64.9% of VIG) | 112 (62.1% of VUG) |
| Overlap, sum of the smaller weight in each shared stock | 27.3% | |
| Largest shared holdings | VIG | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 4.45% | 11.67% |
| Microsoft | 4.34% | 7.61% |
| Broadcom | 4.63% | 4.28% |
| Eli Lilly | 3.93% | 2.81% |
| Visa | 2.45% | 1.54% |
| Mastercard | 2.00% | 1.13% |
| Costco | 1.83% | 1.15% |
| Lam Research | 1.58% | 1.51% |
| KLA | 1.03% | 1.10% |
| Oracle | 0.95% | 0.71% |
Only in VUG (62.1% of the fund): NVIDIA 12.63%, Alphabet 10.29%, Amazon 4.47%, Meta 3.41%, Tesla 3.27%, AMD 2.62%, Applied Materials 1.60%, Netflix 0.84% and Palo Alto Networks 0.78%, among others. Some pay no dividend, and others have not raised one for ten straight years, so VIG's index does not admit them.
Only in VIG (64.9% of the fund): JPMorgan 4.07%, Exxon 2.78%, Johnson & Johnson 2.67%, Walmart 2.11%, Cisco 1.98%, AbbVie 1.92%, Bank of America 1.75%, UnitedHealth 1.63%, Caterpillar 1.62%, Coca-Cola 1.47%, Procter & Gamble 1.45% and Home Depot 1.43%. Banks, energy, health care and consumer staples that VUG's growth screen leaves out.
VIG vs VUG Side by Side
| VIG | VUG | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF | Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF |
| Index | S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index | Morningstar US Large Cap Growth Index (CRSP US Large Cap Growth until 29 July 2026) |
| Expense ratio | 0.04% | 0.03% |
| Prospectus cost on $10,000 over 10 years | $51 | $39 |
| Number of stocks (31 Aug 2026) | 333 | 147 |
| Top-10 weight (30 Jun 2026) | 31.9% | 63.1% |
| Median market cap (30 Jun 2026) | $349.7 billion | $1,797.3 billion |
| Price/earnings ratio (30 Jun 2026) | 26.6x | 35.6x |
| 3-year standard deviation (30 Jun 2026) | 10.68% | 17.42% |
| 30-day SEC yield (30 Sep 2026) | 1.51% | 0.35% |
| Largest sectors (30 Jun 2026) | GICS: information technology 26.3%, financials 20.7%, health care 17.7%, industrials 12.0% | ICB: technology 69.2%, consumer discretionary 13.9%, industrials 7.6% |
| ETF share class assets (31 Aug 2026) | $112.7 billion | $227.0 billion |
| Admiral mutual fund twin | VDADX, 0.07%, $3,000 minimum | VIGAX, 0.05%, $3,000 minimum |
Two Different Questions About a Company
VIG asks: has this company raised its dividend for at least ten years in a row? Vanguard's prospectus describes the index as measuring "U.S. companies that have followed a policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 10 consecutive years," and adds that it "excludes the top 25% of highest-yielding eligible companies." REITs are excluded too. The result is a portfolio of established, profitable companies across many industries, weighted by a modified market-cap method.
VUG asks: is this a large company with growth characteristics? It is weighted purely by market value, so the largest growth companies dominate. NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft alone were 42.2% of VUG in its 30 June 2026 filing.
The two questions overlap only where a large growth company has also been raising its dividend for a decade, like Apple, Microsoft, Broadcom or Visa. Even there the weights differ: Apple was 11.67% of VUG but 4.45% of VIG.
Note on names. VUG's index changed from CRSP to Morningstar on 29 July 2026, after Morningstar acquired CRSP, and the fund's name changed with it. VIG's index did not change; it has tracked the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index since September 2021.
Returns, Risk and Income
| Annualized NAV return, to 30 Sep 2026 | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIG | 9.77% | 16.51% | 10.72% | 12.86% |
| VUG | 13.09% | 26.30% | 13.87% | 17.94% |
| VIG minus VUG | -3.32 | -9.79 | -3.15 | -5.08 |
VUG won clearly. The decade belonged to the largest technology companies, and VIG either did not hold them or held them at much smaller weights.
The trade-off is volatility. VIG's three-year standard deviation was 10.68% against 17.42% for VUG at 30 June 2026. In the prospectuses, VIG's worst quarter was a 16.79% loss in early 2020 and VUG's a 22.42% loss in the quarter to 30 June 2022. VIG's best quarter was a 13.96% gain; VUG's was 29.04%. VIG moves less in both directions.
| Average annual total return to 31 Dec 2025 | 1 year | 5 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIG, before taxes | 14.18% | 11.27% | 13.09% |
| VIG, after taxes on distributions | 13.72 | 10.78 | 12.57 |
| VUG, before taxes | 19.44% | 14.63% | 17.45% |
| VUG, after taxes on distributions | 19.31 | 14.48 | 17.20 |
Income and taxes. VIG's higher dividends cost it 0.52 points a year to taxes on distributions over the ten years to 2025, against 0.25 for VUG (our arithmetic). On $100,000, VIG's 1.51% SEC yield is about $1,510 a year of dividends against about $350 from VUG. If you need that cash, VIG delivers more of it; if you are reinvesting in a taxable account, it is more income to report each year.
| Hypothetical $10,000 held for 10 years | Ending value |
|---|---|
| At VIG's 10-year NAV return to 30 Sep 2026 (12.86%) | $33,527 |
| At VUG's 10-year NAV return to 30 Sep 2026 (17.94%) | $52,073 |
This is educational information, not personalized investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and all investing carries the risk of loss.
Which One Fits You
You want the higher expected-growth bet and can stomach big drops. VUG. It holds the companies that drove the last decade, at 0.03%, and its swings have been larger.
You want steadier, broader holdings and some income. VIG. Its top ten are under a third of the fund, it covers banks, health care, industrials and consumer staples, and it fell less in the worst quarters on record in its prospectus.
Holding both? Unlike most pairs on this site, this one is reasonable. With 27.3% overlap, each fund mostly adds companies the other lacks. Together they still leave out much of the market, including smaller companies and many value stocks, so a total-market fund remains the simpler core. See VTI vs VUG and VIG vs VTI.
Taxable account. VUG is the more tax-efficient of the two because it pays less in dividends. VIG's dividends are taxed each year even when reinvested. Hold VIG in an IRA if you have the room; check your 2026 tax bracket before selling either in a taxable account.
Mutual funds or a 401(k). Both have Admiral Shares with a $3,000 minimum at Vanguard: VDADX at 0.07% and VIGAX at 0.05%.
Comparing other dividend funds? VIG vs SCHD and VIG vs VYM cover the higher-yield alternatives, and VIG vs VOO shows how much of VIG is already inside the S&P 500.
Sources & Methodology
- VIG summary prospectus dated 28 May 2026: the 0.04% fee table, index description, best and worst quarters and returns to 31 December 2025.
- Vanguard Specialized Funds, Form 485BPOS filed 28 May 2026: the index glossary (ten consecutive years, top 25% of yields excluded).
- VIG Admiral Shares summary prospectus, 28 May 2026: VDADX fee and minimum.
- Vanguard Index Funds, Form 485BPOS filed 28 April 2026: VUG's ETF and Admiral fee tables, index description, quarters and returns to 31 December 2025.
- Vanguard Index Funds renaming supplement, 29 July 2026: VUG's change to a Morningstar index.
- VIG fact sheet, 30 June 2026 and VUG fact sheet, 30 June 2026: top ten, sectors, median market cap, P/E and standard deviation.
- Vanguard VIG page and Vanguard VUG page: fees, stock counts and assets at 31 August 2026, SEC yields and returns to 30 September 2026.
- VIG Form N-PORT, 31 July 2026 and VUG Form N-PORT, 30 June 2026: the holdings behind the overlap figures.
How the overlap was computed. For each company both funds hold we took the smaller of its two weights and added them up, the method the Portfolio Overlap Checker uses on the same N-PORT data. The two filings are a month apart, so the figure is approximate.
What we did not verify. The dividend record of each company VUG holds and VIG does not; the statement that they fail VIG's ten-year test is an inference from the index rule. The weight cap in VIG's modified market-cap method is not stated in the Vanguard filings we read.
This article is for general education and is not investment, tax or legal advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, index returns cannot be invested in directly, and all investing carries the risk of loss. Figures were checked against the sources above on 5 October 2026; confirm current data with Vanguard before acting.
FAQ: VIG vs VUG
Is VIG or VUG better?
VUG returned far more over the ten years to 30 September 2026, 17.94% against 12.86% a year, with larger swings. VIG was steadier and pays more income. They suit different goals.
How much do VIG and VUG overlap?
27.3% by weight in the funds' latest holdings filings (VIG 31 July 2026, VUG 30 June 2026). The shared names are mostly Apple, Microsoft, Broadcom, Eli Lilly, Visa and Mastercard.
Can I hold VIG and VUG together?
Yes, it is one of the more complementary Vanguard pairs. Each mostly adds companies the other lacks. Decide the split on purpose, since VUG carries more volatility.
Why doesn't VIG own NVIDIA or Amazon?
VIG's index requires at least ten consecutive years of dividend increases. Companies that pay no dividend, or have not raised one every year for a decade, are not eligible.
What are the expense ratios?
VIG 0.04% and VUG 0.03%. Their Admiral mutual fund versions charge 0.07% (VDADX) and 0.05% (VIGAX).
Which is better for a taxable account?
VUG, on taxes alone: its yield was 0.35% against VIG's 1.51%, and its prospectus tax drag over ten years was 0.25 points a year against 0.52.
Which fell less in a crash?
VIG. Its worst prospectus quarter was a 16.79% loss in early 2020; VUG's was a 22.42% loss in the second quarter of 2022.
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"VIG vs VUG: Dividend Growers vs Growth Stocks, With Only 27% in Common." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/vig-vs-vug/
Related comparisons: VIG vs VOO · VUG vs VOO · VIG vs SCHD · VIG vs VYM · MGK vs VUG · VTI vs VUG · All ETF comparisons
