VONG or SPYM: Which Stock ETF Is a Better Buy?
VONG or SPYM: Which Stock ETF Is a Better Buy?
Ben Gran, The Motley FoolSun, March 15, 2026 at 4:05 PM UTC
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Key Points -
If you want a low-cost S&P 500 index fund, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF is a good choice.
Investors seeking a more tech-heavy, growth-oriented ETF can opt for the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF.
10 stocks we like better than State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF ›
Especially during volatile times in the world economy, you might have questions about how to choose the best stock ETFs. Two popular ETFs offer different approaches to help build a diversified portfolio.
The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF (NASDAQ: VONG) invests in growth stocks of large U.S. companies. This fund seeks to track the performance of the Russell 1000 Growth index and tends to have a high portion of its holdings in tech stocks.
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If you want a simple approach to just buy the entire S&P 500 index, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: SPYM) is a solid choice. This fund lets you own the entire S&P 500, representing about 80% of the U.S. stock market.
Let's take a closer look at these U.S. stock ETFs and see which one could be a better buy.
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VONG: 391 stocks with an emphasis on tech and growth
The Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF has gained about 24% in the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 index (which gained 20.8%) and underperforming the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index (which gained 28.4%). This fund has also delivered strong average annual returns of 26% in the past three years, 14.3% in the past five years, and 18.1% in the past 10 years.
VONG owns a total of 391 stocks, with a heavy allocation to the tech sector: 59.7% of the fund's holdings are in technology stocks. The ETF's top five stock holdings are Nvidia (12.7% of the fund), Apple (10.8%), Microsoft (9.2%), Amazon (4.8%), and Broadcom (4.6%). VONG charges an expense ratio of 0.06%. If you want your investments to have a strong weighting toward tech stocks, this fund can be a good low-cost choice.
SPYM: A simple, low-cost S&P 500 index ETF
The State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF is just what its name describes: a straightforward S&P 500 index fund. If you want to own the entire S&P 500, this stock ETF is an easy, low-cost way to do it. This fund has delivered average annual returns of 21.8% in the past three years, 14.2% in the past five years, and 15.5% in the past 10 years.
Compared to VONG, SPYM has slightly less exposure to technology stocks. Only 33.3% of this fund's holdings are in the technology sector. But the fund's top holdings are still mostly the same as VONG's. SPYM's top five holdings are Nvidia (7.6% of the fund), Apple (6.6%), Microsoft (5.2%), Amazon (3.6%), and Alphabet Class A (NASDAQ: GOOG) (3.1%).
SPYM charges an expense ratio of 0.02%, making it an exceptionally low-cost way to own the entire S&P 500 index.
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VONG or SPYM: Head-to-head comparison
If you're trying to decide which of these U.S. stock ETFs to buy, here's a quick side-by-side comparison of key metrics and performance indicators.
Metric
Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF (VONG)
State Street® SPDR® Portfolio S&P 500® ETF (SPYM)
Number of stocks
391
504
Top five sectors
Technology (59.7% of fund), Consumer Discretionary (17.5%), Industrials (8.9%), Health Care (7.6%), Financials (2.5%)
Information Technology (33.3% of fund), Financials (12.4%), Communication Services (10.6%), Consumer Discretionary (9.9%), Health Care (9.6%)
Top five holdings
Nvidia (12.7% of fund), Apple (10.8%), Microsoft (9.2%), Amazon (4.8%), and Broadcom (4.6%)
Nvidia (7.6% of the fund), Apple (6.6%), Microsoft (5.2%), Amazon (3.6%), and Alphabet Class A (3.1%).
Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio
37.1
27.1
Average annual returns (as of Feb. 28, 2026)
1 year: 14.8%
3 year: 26%
5 year: 14.3%
10 year: 18.1%
1 year: 17%
3 year: 21.8%
5 year: 14.2%
10 year: 15.5%
Expense ratio
0.06%
0.02%
Data source: Vanguard, State Street.
Which U.S. stock ETF should you buy? Both funds are diversified across hundreds of stocks and have low expense ratios. VONG has outperformed SPYM over the past 10 years, but its tech-heavy allocation might be the wrong fit for investors who are getting skeptical about AI stocks and major tech names. VONG also has a higher valuation -- its price-to-earnings ratio is 37.1 vs. only 27.1 for SPYM.
If you still believe in loading up on a tech-heavy index of growth stocks, the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF could be a good buy. But if you want to diversify more broadly across the entire S&P 500 index with slightly less concentration in major tech names, the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF could be a better buy.
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Ben Gran has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia and is short shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Source: “AOL Money”
