# VONG ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What VONG holds, its 0.06% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF (VONG) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Vanguard. This fund owns large US companies whose sales and profits have been growing fast. It charges 0.06% a year. From September 2010 to October 2026 it returned about 16.4% a year, and its worst drop was −32.7%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.06% a year (about $6 on $10,000).
- Started trading on September 20, 2010.
- Last close: $125.04 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: 5.0%.
- Worst drop since 2010: −32.7%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has VONG done since 2010?

From September 2010 to October 2026, VONG returned about 16.4% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.6% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $114,310 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | VONG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | 0.8% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 0.4% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 3.8% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 3.1% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 5.0% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 21.5% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 12.0% | 12.8% |
| 10 years, per year | 17.9% | 15.4% |
| Since 2010, per year | 16.4% | 14.6% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## VONG returns by month and year

VONG rose in 124 of its 194 months (64%). Its best month was April 2020, at 15.0%. Its worst was April 2022, at −12.1%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | −1.4% | −3.5% | −5.2% | 11.9% | 7.2% | −2.8% | −4.6% | 3.7% | 2.1% | −3.0% |  |  | 3.1% |
| 2025 | 1.9% | −3.6% | −8.4% | 1.6% | 9.1% | 6.3% | 3.9% | 1.1% | 5.2% | 3.7% | −1.8% | −0.6% | 18.4% |
| 2024 | 2.4% | 6.8% | 1.7% | −4.2% | 6.0% | 6.7% | −1.7% | 2.1% | 2.7% | −0.3% | 6.6% | 0.8% | 33.2% |
| 2023 | 8.3% | −1.3% | 6.9% | 1.0% | 4.6% | 6.7% | 3.5% | −0.9% | −5.5% | −1.4% | 10.9% | 4.5% | 42.7% |
| 2022 | −8.6% | −4.3% | 4.0% | −12.1% | −2.3% | −8.0% | 11.9% | −4.7% | −9.5% | 5.6% | 4.3% | −7.5% | −29.2% |
| 2021 | −0.7% | −0.1% | 1.8% | 6.9% | −1.4% | 6.1% | 3.3% | 3.8% | −5.7% | 8.7% | 0.7% | 2.0% | 27.6% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | −6.7% | −10.0% | 15.0% | 6.7% | 4.3% | 7.8% | 10.2% | −4.7% | −3.0% | 10.1% | 4.4% | 38.3% |
| 2019 | 8.8% | 3.6% | 2.8% | 4.5% | −6.3% | 6.9% | 2.2% | −0.9% | 0.2% | 2.7% | 4.4% | 3.0% | 36.1% |
| 2018 | 7.0% | −2.5% | −2.7% | 0.2% | 4.4% | 0.9% | 3.0% | 5.4% | 0.6% | −9.0% | 0.9% | −8.3% | −1.5% |
| 2017 | 3.4% | 4.1% | 1.2% | 2.2% | 2.6% | −0.3% | 2.6% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 3.9% | 3.0% | 0.9% | 30.0% |
| 2016 | −5.7% | 0.1% | 6.8% | −0.9% | 1.9% | −0.6% | 5.0% | −0.5% | 0.3% | −2.3% | 2.2% | 1.2% | 7.0% |
| 2015 | −1.6% | 6.7% | −1.1% | 0.5% | 1.4% | −1.8% | 3.4% | −5.9% | −2.7% | 8.7% | 0.3% | −1.5% | 5.6% |
| 2014 | −3.0% | 5.2% | −0.8% | −0.2% | 3.1% | 2.0% | −1.4% | 4.3% | −1.1% | 2.4% | 3.4% | −1.6% | 12.4% |
| 2013 | 4.4% | 0.9% | 3.8% | 2.2% | 1.9% | −1.9% | 5.5% | −2.0% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 33.2% |
| 2012 | 6.1% | 4.6% | 3.5% | −0.4% | −6.1% | 2.2% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 1.7% | −2.6% | 1.7% | −0.1% | 15.2% |
| 2011 | 2.5% | 3.4% | 0.0% | 3.3% | −1.5% | −1.2% | −0.9% | −5.8% | −6.8% | 10.7% | −0.1% | −0.3% | 2.3% |
| 2010 (part) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1.2% | 5.1% | 1.4% | 5.3% | 13.4% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is VONG compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 1.22.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, VONG tended to move about 1.22%.
- **Correlation 0.96.** VONG mostly moved with the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, VONG rose 105% as much on average. In months it fell, VONG fell 110% as much.

| Measure | VONG | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 11.8% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 21.7% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −32.7% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.62 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 0.90 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.36 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is VONG above its 200-day average?

VONG closed 2.0% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds VONG only above that average would hold it today.

- Its 50-day average is 4.2% above its 200-day average.
- It closed 6.0% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for VONG](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was VONG's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. VONG's worst fall was −32.7%, from December 27, 2021 to October 14, 2022. It got back to that high on December 27, 2023. On October 16, 2026 it was 6.0% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −32.7% | Dec 27, 2021 | Oct 14, 2022 | Dec 27, 2023 | 10 months | 14 months |
| −31.7% | Feb 19, 2020 | Mar 23, 2020 | Jun 8, 2020 | 33 days | 3 months |
| −23.3% | Dec 16, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | Jun 26, 2025 | 4 months | 3 months |
| −22.0% | Oct 1, 2018 | Dec 24, 2018 | Apr 12, 2019 | 3 months | 4 months |
| −18.0% | Jul 7, 2011 | Oct 3, 2011 | Feb 3, 2012 | 3 months | 4 months |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does VONG hold?

This fund owns large US companies whose sales and profits have been growing fast. It follows the Russell 1000 Growth Index. A few giant technology companies make up a large part of the fund, so it can rise and fall sharply.

It tracks the Russell 1000 Growth Index. It had 371 holdings as of September 30, 2026, according to Vanguard.

| Fact | VONG |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF |
| Issuer | Vanguard |
| Expense ratio | 0.06% a year |
| Started trading | September 20, 2010 |
| Tracks | Russell 1000 Growth Index |
| Type | US stocks, ETF |
| Holdings | 371 holdings as of September 30, 2026 |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [Vanguard fund page](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vong) |

## What is the VONG expense ratio?

VONG charges 0.06% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.06% fee comes to about $6 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 72% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold VONG?

No classic strategy holds VONG yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does VONG compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for VONG:

- [IWF](https://tactfolio.com/etf/IWF.md): iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF, 0.18% a year
- [VUG](https://tactfolio.com/etf/VUG.md): Vanguard Morningstar Growth ETF, 0.03% a year
- [SCHG](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SCHG.md): Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF, 0.04% a year
- [SPYG](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SPYG.md): State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF, 0.04% a year

See [all 8 VONG alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/VONG.md), compared on the same dates as VONG.

## Test VONG in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add VONG, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for VONG and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Vanguard. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [S&P 500 index](https://tactfolio.com/learn/sp500-index): The S&P 500 tracks about 500 large US companies. Learn how stocks get in, how the index is weighted, how to invest in it, and how far it has fallen before.
- [What is an ETF](https://tactfolio.com/learn/what-is-an-etf): An ETF is a fund that trades like a stock. Learn how ETFs work, what they cost, the main types, and the risks, with SEC sources.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of VONG?

VONG charges 0.06% a year, according to Vanguard as of October 17, 2026. That is about $6 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did VONG start trading?

VONG started trading on September 20, 2010. It is run by Vanguard.

### What does VONG track?

VONG tracks the Russell 1000 Growth Index. This fund owns large US companies whose sales and profits have been growing fast.

### How much has VONG returned per year?

From September 2010 to October 2026, VONG returned about 16.4% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −32.7%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is VONG above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, VONG closed 2.0% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use VONG?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold VONG yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [Vanguard: Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth ETF fund page](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vong)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.