In the creation of stock indexes, the criteria for inclusion parameters often cross over and overlap. For example, every single stock from Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 collection also is included in the S&P 500 Index. Unsurprisingly, the S&P 500 Index is one of the most popular and referenced in the investment world. Its breadth and range of representation by industrial sector, market capitalization, institutional participation, dividend consistency, and a panoply of other categories often make it the default example of US economic and industrial health. However, there are other indexes, such as the Russell 3000 Index, the Wilshire 5000 Index, and the Dow Jones US Large Cap Total Stock Market Index, to name a few, that offer some differences, and perhaps even greater comprehensive coverage than the S&P 500. Even Standard & Poors has its own S&P Total Market Index to offer differentiated metrics. 

Millions of pension funds, retirement accounts, annuities, and brokerage accounts all hold ETFs that track the S&P 500 Index. Its double-digit growth performance in recent years has been a bit of an anomaly vs. its historically slow and steady pace. Nevertheless, its continued growth, with the aid of compounding, has made it a favorite of Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Vanguard’s John Bogle, among many others. 

However, given that other indexes with wider stock inclusion coverage exist, are ETFs tracking these indexes being overlooked? Among ETFs that track the S&P 500 Index, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE: VOO) is a favorite, especially among F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) ethos fans, who aggressively pursue thrift, earnings, savings and investment growth in order to build their retirement nest eggs at an accelerated pace.  

The Schwab US Large-Cap ETF (NYSE: SCHX), which tracks the Dow Jones US Large Cap Total Stock Market Index, is also often touted by F.I.R.E. enthusiasts as a viable alternative to VOO. 

A look at the two ETFs in a head-to-head comparison might offer tips as to which might be more appropriate for helping to attain an investor’s portfolio growth goals.

Comparing Apples and Apples

Vanguard’s John Bogle is often referred to as “the father of index investing”. Vanguard’s menu of index ETFs and mutual funds has made it an investment titan and one of the largest financial asset management companies on the planet, except for BlackRock. Launched in 2000, VOO has been one of Vanguard’s tentpole ETFs, and continues to see massive inflows. Closing price at the time of this writing was $554.46

Founded in 2009 by Wall Street’s  800-lb. Gorilla discount broker Charles Schwab, SCHX has emerged as a popular alternative for those investors looking for a bit broader diversification of holdings in an ETF.  Closing price at the time of this writing was $23.94. Schwab is the 5th largest ETF issuer in the US financial industry.

Unsurprisingly, there are quite a few surface similarities between VOO and SCHX. An overview snapshot at the time of this writing between the two ETFs appears as follows:

	SCHX	VOO
Market Cap	$53.386 billion	$615.45 billion
Net AUM	$51.77 billion	$1.35 trillion
No. of Stocks	752	506
Average Daily Volume	7.02 million	6 million
Expense Ratio	0.03%	0.03%
Yield	2.32%	1.22%
1 year return (annualized)	26.81%	25.58%
5 year return (annualized)	16.15%	14.35%
10 year return (annualized)	15.85%	13.37%

Largest Holdings

The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Total Market Index contain significant overlap, but proportionality may differ somewhat. The top 10 holdings are identical by name but allocations vary between VOO and SCHX.

SCHX	VOO
Nvidia – 6.67%	Apple – 7.11%
Apple – 6.47%	Nvidia – 6.76%
Microsoft – 5.74%	Microsoft – 6.25%
Amazon – 3.52%	Amazon – 3.61%
Meta Platforms (Facebook) Class A – 2.30%	Meta Platforms (Facebook) Class A – 2.57%
Alphabet (Google) Class A – 1.92%	Alphabet (Google) Class A – 2.08%
Tesla – 1.76%	Alphabet (Google) Class C – 1.72%
Berkshire Hathaway Class A – 1.50%	Berkshire Hathaway Class A – 1.71%
Alphabet (Google) Class C – 1.58%	Broadcom – 1.64%
Broadcom – 1.41%	Tesla – 1.44%

Industrial Sector Allocation

Similarly, VOO and SCHX also share industrial sector allocation emphasis with only minor proportion differences.

Sector	SCHX	VOO
Electronic Technology	42.4%	22.71%
Technology Services	40.94%	20.28%
Finance	27.07%	12.74%
Retail Trade	16.25%	8.25%
Health Technology	15.71%	7.94%

Observations

As one can see from the above charts, the differences between SCHX and VOO are fairly minimal. 

• SCHX has performed slightly better over the past decade compared to VOO.
• SCHX has a larger catalog of stocks in its portfolio than VOO.
• VOO has a much larger market cap and AUM than SCHX.
• SCHX has a larger dividend yield. 2.32%, vs. 1.22% for VOO.

Retirement Fund Considerations

For anyone seeking a growth oriented ETF for their retirement fund, VOO and SCHX offer comparable returns and benefits. From an investor perspective, one might wish to consider the following points:

• For someone looking to do dollar cost averaging, but wants to minimize fractional ETF shares, the lower market share price of SCHX might be preferable.
• If huge liquidity and large AUM holdings are important, VOO will be the stronger choice. 
• VOO appears to be the go-to ETF of choice to buy during dips. The recent S&P 500 pull back saw $5.2 billion of inflows, totalling $13.5 billion since the beginning of January, 2025. 
• SCHX saw $3.94 billion of inflows in Q4 2024. 
• Somewhat larger diversification from The Dow Jones Total Market Index of 750 stocks may be another risk mitigation aspect that favors SCHX. 
• If the difference between choosing otherwise equivalent ETF boils down to yields, SCHX has the edge. 
• If one is seeking to switch into other funds managed by the same company sometime in the future, Vanguard’s menu of selections outweighs that of Schwab.

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