Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF

Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF (VIOG) is an index fund that holds the growth-style stocks of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, a group of smaller US companies. It had 351 holdings as of August 31, 2026. Its 0.10% expense ratio is lower than the two other funds that track the same index: SPDR's SLYG at 0.15% and iShares' IJT at 0.18%. Like most growth funds, it pays little income.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, VIOG returned +14.5%, 7th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +5.4%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-21.1%); its best was 2021 (+22.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 29.2% (Nov 8, 2021 to Jun 16, 2022), recovered by Jul 16, 2024.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 351 securities; the ten largest made up 9.84% of assets.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $46.5M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +9.56%, -3.28%, -1.79%.

VIOG is the exchange-traded share class of Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth Index Fund. It tracks the S&P SmallCap 600 Growth Index. That index takes the growth companies out of the broader S&P SmallCap 600 Index, and the index provider decides which companies count as growth. "Small-cap" means a company's total stock market value is small compared with the largest US firms. Growth companies are expected to grow faster than average. They often reinvest their profits instead of paying dividends.

No manager picks stocks. Vanguard tries to own all, or nearly all, of the stocks in the index, each in about the same proportion as its weight in the index. The fund must keep at least 80% of its net assets in index stocks. As of August 31, 2026, the ten largest holdings made up just 9.84% of the fund. The biggest were Corcept Therapeutics (1.2%), Brinker International (1.1%) and Viasat (1.1%), so no single company dominates.

The prospectus lists portfolio turnover of 48%. That means a fair share of the holdings changes each year as the index changes. Cash was 0.45% of assets, and a stock index futures contract and a swap together came to about 0.01%. The shares trade on NYSE Arca at market prices, which can differ slightly from the value of the fund's holdings.

• VIOG charges 0.1% a year, versus an average of 0.14% for the similar funds below (4th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.08% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $10 in the first year and $128 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It focuses on a narrow, volatile slice of the market: small US growth companies. That fits it better as a smaller add-on than as a core holding.

VIOG could add smaller, faster-growing US companies, which large-company index funds hold little of. The price is sharper swings. Its price history starts in June 2020, so it doesn't cover the 2008 crisis or the 2020 crash. The prospectus does show a worst quarter of -28.13% in early 2020. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -21.2%. Its deepest drop was -29.2%, from November 2021 to June 2022, and it took 25 months to recover, until July 2024. Anyone who had to sell shares or draw income during that stretch would have locked in losses. Income is thin: the trailing yield was 0.77% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Costs are low at 0.10%. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $128 over 10 years. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.