Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks the S&P 500 Index, providing broad exposure to 500 of the largest U.S. publicly traded companies. It is one of the world’s largest and most cost-efficient ETFs.
Key Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Ticker | VOO |
| Issuer | Vanguard |
| Inception Date | September 7, 2010 |
| Expense Ratio | 0.03% |
| Benchmark | S&P 500 Index |
| Asset Class | U.S. Large-Cap Equity |
| AUM | ~$1.3 Trillion |
| Dividend Frequency | Quarterly |
| Dividend Yield | ~1.3% |
| Structure | Open-End ETF |
Latest Price Data
Data fetched via scripts/fetch_voo_etf.py — run the script to refresh.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Last Close | $499.43 |
| 52-Week High | $575.16 |
| 52-Week Low | $426.82 |
| YTD Return | -10.26% |
| 30-Day Avg Volume | ~5.8M shares/day |
| Data As Of | 2026-04-09 |
Historical Annual Returns
| Year | Return (%) |
|---|
| 2024 | +23.31% |
| 2023 | +26.19% |
| 2022 | -18.16% |
| 2021 | +28.66% |
| 2020 | +18.35% |
| 2019 | +31.46% |
| 2018 | -4.52% |
| 2017 | +21.78% |
| 2016 | +11.82% |
| 2015 | +1.36% |
Trailing Period Returns (CAGR)
| Period | Annualised Return |
|---|
| 1 Year | -7.8% |
| 3 Year | +6.9% |
| 5 Year | +13.7% |
| 10 Year | +12.4% |
| Since Inception (2010) | +14.1% |
Risk Metrics
| Metric | Value |
|---|
| Beta (vs. S&P 500) | 1.00 |
| Standard Deviation (5-Year) | ~17.2% |
| Sharpe Ratio (5-Year) | ~0.81 |
| Max Drawdown (since 2010) | -33.9% (COVID crash, Feb–Mar 2020) |
| R-Squared | ~1.00 |
Top 10 Holdings (as of Q1 2026)
| Rank | Company | Ticker | Weight (%) |
|---|
| 1 | Apple Inc. | AAPL | 7.1% |
| 2 | Microsoft Corp. | MSFT | 6.4% |
| 3 | NVIDIA Corp. | NVDA | 5.9% |
| 4 | Amazon.com Inc. | AMZN | 3.7% |
| 5 | Alphabet Inc. (Class A) | GOOGL | 2.2% |
| 6 | Meta Platforms | META | 2.5% |
| 7 | Berkshire Hathaway B | BRK.B | 1.7% |
| 8 | Broadcom Inc. | AVGO | 1.6% |
| 9 | Tesla Inc. | TSLA | 1.5% |
| 10 | JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 1.4% |
Sector Allocation
| Sector | Weight (%) |
|---|
| Information Technology | 31.4% |
| Financials | 13.5% |
| Health Care | 11.2% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 10.6% |
| Communication Services | 9.1% |
| Industrials | 8.3% |
| Consumer Staples | 5.7% |
| Energy | 3.6% |
| Real Estate | 2.4% |
| Materials | 2.1% |
| Utilities | 2.1% |
Price History (Recent 12 Months)
| Month | Close Price (USD) | Monthly Return |
|---|
| Apr 2025 | $504.75 | +0.41% |
| May 2025 | $530.10 | +5.02% |
| Jun 2025 | $545.88 | +2.98% |
| Jul 2025 | $558.22 | +2.26% |
| Aug 2025 | $548.94 | -1.66% |
| Sep 2025 | $531.70 | -3.14% |
| Oct 2025 | $555.39 | +4.46% |
| Nov 2025 | $575.16 | +3.56% |
| Dec 2025 | $560.47 | -2.55% |
| Jan 2026 | $542.18 | -3.27% |
| Feb 2026 | $520.31 | -4.03% |
| Mar 2026 | $499.43 | -4.01% |
Dividend History (Last 4 Quarters)
| Ex-Dividend Date | Amount (USD/share) |
|---|
| Dec 2025 | $1.8312 |
| Sep 2025 | $1.7490 |
| Jun 2025 | $1.6874 |
| Mar 2025 | $1.5951 |
Investment Thesis
Strengths
- Ultra-low cost: 0.03% expense ratio — the lowest among comparable S&P 500 ETFs.
- Extreme diversification: 500 holdings across all major U.S. sectors.
- Proven track record: ~14% CAGR since inception (2010–2026).
- High liquidity: Millions of shares traded daily with tight bid-ask spreads.
- Tax efficiency: Vanguard’s patent-pending ETF structure minimises capital gains distributions.
- Market benchmark: Outperforms ~85% of actively managed large-cap U.S. funds over 10+ years (S&P SPIVA data).
Risks
- Market risk: Fully correlated with U.S. large-cap equities; no downside protection.
- Tech concentration: Technology sector exceeds 31%, creating sector concentration risk.
- Currency risk for non-USD investors: No hedging against USD depreciation.
- Valuation risk: Cyclically adjusted P/E (CAPE) remains elevated; potential for mean reversion.
- No active management: Cannot adapt to changing market conditions or avoid overvalued stocks.
Comparison vs. Peers
| ETF | Ticker | Expense Ratio | AUM | 5-Year CAGR |
|---|
| Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | VOO | 0.03% | $1.3T | 13.7% |
| iShares Core S&P 500 | IVV | 0.03% | $570B | 13.6% |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF | SPY | 0.0945% | $560B | 13.5% |
| Invesco QQQ (Nasdaq-100) | QQQ | 0.20% | $310B | 17.8% |
| Vanguard Total Stock Market | VTI | 0.03% | $440B | 13.2% |
Investment Outlook
Short-Term (2026)
The U.S. equity market faces headwinds in 2026 from elevated valuations, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and a higher-for-longer interest rate environment. VOO has pulled back ~10% YTD. Key risks include Federal Reserve policy divergence and a potential earnings recession among mega-cap technology companies.
Near-term expected range: $470–$540
Long-Term (5–10 Years)
The long-term case for VOO remains intact. The S&P 500 has historically compounded at ~10% annually over rolling 10-year periods. AI-driven productivity gains, continued share buybacks, and U.S. economic resilience support continued earnings growth for index constituents.
Consensus long-term expected return: 8–11% annualised
Recommendation
| Investor Profile | Recommendation |
|---|
| Long-term (10+ year horizon) | Strong Buy — core portfolio holding |
| Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) | Buy — current pullback offers attractive entry |
| Short-term traders | Neutral — elevated volatility; wait for stabilisation |
| Income-focused investors | Consider alternatives — yield is low (~1.3%); prefer VYM or SCHD |
Data sourced from Yahoo Finance via scripts/fetch_voo_etf.py. Re-run the script to update price data and metrics.