SPY vs VUG: Correlation & Overlap
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) show a very strong relationship: their 3-year correlation of weekly returns is 0.96. The two funds also share 56.8% of their portfolios by weight.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are SPY and VUG?
Across a 3-year window, the weekly returns of SPY and VUG correlate at 0.96, very strong, meaning they move nearly in lockstep. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.95 lands near the 3-year figure. Stretching to 5 years gives 0.96, with an annualized covariance of 268.0 %².
Within SPY's tracked universe of 4755 assets, VUG comes in at #8 by 3-year correlation. Their 12-month results are close: +20.6% for SPY against +16.2% for VUG. The link looks structural: the rolling one-year correlation barely moved, holding between 0.93 and 0.98.
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
SPY vs VUG: side by side
| SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust) | VUG (Vanguard Growth ETF) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +20.6% | +16.2% |
| 5-year return | +82.4% | +78.4% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 14.5% | 19.4% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 1.00 | 1.28 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -18.8% | -22.8% |
| Dividend yield | 1.01% | 0.40% |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Assets under management | $795.3B | $372.0B |
| Sector / category | ETF · US Large Cap | ETF · US Style |
SPY is a Large Blend fund from State Street Investment Management: $795.3B under management, 504 holdings, a 0.09% expense ratio, a 1.01% trailing dividend yield. VUG, Vanguard's Large Growth fund, carries $372.0B under management, 146 holdings, a 0.03% expense ratio, a 0.40% trailing dividend yield.
Portfolio overlap between SPY and VUG
The two portfolios overlap heavily. Weighing the shared positions, 56.8% of the two funds is identical, spread across 122 common holdings. That shared book is a large part of why the returns line up.
| Common holding | Weight in SPY | Weight in VUG |
|---|---|---|
| NVDA | 7.68% | 12.84% |
| AAPL | 6.96% | 12.63% |
| MSFT | 5.58% | 9.61% |
| AMZN | 3.85% | 5.16% |
| GOOGL | 3.03% | 5.81% |
| AVGO | 2.55% | 4.47% |
| GOOG | 2.42% | 4.64% |
| META | 1.91% | 3.41% |
| TSLA | 1.47% | 2.45% |
| LLY | 1.42% | 2.72% |
| AMD | 1.19% | 2.17% |
| V | 0.96% | 1.66% |
| MA | 0.73% | 1.28% |
| COST | 0.64% | 1.19% |
| PLTR | 0.62% | 0.76% |
Largest positions held only by SPY: MU (1.60%), JPM (1.44%), BRK.B (1.40%), XOM (0.99%), JNJ (0.98%). Only by VUG: SNOW (0.29%), NET (0.27%), SPCX (0.19%), BE (0.17%), WCN (0.14%).
Overlap = sum of the smaller of the two weights across common holdings, from issuer disclosures as of 2026-08-26. Top 15 common positions shown.
Year-by-year returns
| Year | SPY | VUG |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | -18.2% | -33.2% |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +46.8% |
| 2024 | +24.9% | +32.7% |
| 2025 | +17.7% | +19.4% |
| 2026 | +13.7% | +9.6% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are SPY and VUG good diversifiers for each other?
Not really. At 0.96, the two trade almost as one position, and owning both buys little extra protection. The 56.8% holdings overlap makes the redundancy concrete: much of it is the same book twice.
FAQ
What is the correlation between SPY and VUG?
The SPY/VUG correlation stands at 0.96 on a 3-year window (1 year: 0.95, 5 years: 0.96), computed from weekly returns as of 2026-08-27.
Is VUG a good diversifier for SPY?
Not really. At 0.96, the two trade almost as one position, and owning both buys little extra protection. The 56.8% holdings overlap makes the redundancy concrete: much of it is the same book twice.
How much do SPY and VUG overlap?
The two funds share 122 holdings amounting to 56.8% of weight, per issuer portfolio files dated 2026-08-26.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/spy-vs-vug.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/spy-vs-vug/)
The core API is free. Terms and every endpoint in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: SPY correlations · VUG correlations
