Vanguard offers more than 100 U.S. exchange-traded funds, but only a small group has managed to outperform its flagship S&P 500 ETF over the past five years.
A ranking shared by StockMKTNewz shows just eight Vanguard ETFs ahead of VOO’s roughly 12.75% annualized five-year return, with the Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE) leading by an enormous margin at 25.84%.
The list is striking because it looks very different from Vanguard’s 2026 leaderboard.
Earlier this month, 38 Vanguard ETFs were outperforming VOO year to date, according to our review of Vanguard’s 2026 ETF performance. Stretch the window to five years, however, and most of that outperformance disappears.
Energy Is the Clear Five-Year Winner
The biggest outlier is VDE, with a reported five-year annualized return of 25.84%.
That performance reflects a dramatic reversal from the energy sector’s weak position at the start of the decade. Oil producers benefited from tighter supply, stronger cash generation and higher commodity prices, while the latest Middle East disruptions have pushed energy stocks sharply higher again.
Vanguard data shows VDE was already up more than 47% in 2026 through Sept. 10, making it the strongest fund in Vanguard’s lineup this year as well.
Technology ranks second. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) has returned 18.50% annually over five years, powered by semiconductor, cloud and AI winners. Vanguard’s latest figures confirm the same 18.50% five-year NAV return, while VGT was up more than 28% in 2026 through early September.
That combination means the two strongest long-term winners come from almost opposite macro stories: energy scarcity and technology growth.
Only Six Others Manage to Beat VOO
The remaining advantage over VOO is much narrower.
| Vanguard ETF | 5-year annualized return |
|---|---|
| VDE – Energy | 25.84% |
| VGT – Information Technology | 18.50% |
| VFMF – U.S. Multifactor | 14.59% |
| VYMI – International High Dividend | 14.14% |
| MGC – Mega Cap | 13.32% |
| MGK – Mega Cap Growth | 13.14% |
| VOOG – S&P 500 Growth | 13.02% |
| MGV – Mega Cap Value | 12.90% |
| VOO – S&P 500 | 12.75% |
Several of these funds beat VOO by less than one percentage point annually.
That matters because VOO itself is extremely cheap, charging just 0.03%, while providing exposure to roughly 500 large U.S. companies. Vanguard reported a five-year return around 12.8% through July, very close to the rolling figure in the ranking.
TI vs. VOO comparison explains why that simplicity has made VOO such a difficult benchmark for more specialized strategies to beat consistently.
2026 Leadership May Not Be Long-Term Leadership
The bigger takeaway is the difference between short and long investment horizons.
Dozens of Vanguard funds are beating VOO this year because energy, value, international stocks and smaller companies have enjoyed strong rotations. But over five years, only eight remain ahead.
Even mega-cap strategies barely clear the benchmark. MGC, for example, owns many of the same giants already dominating the S&P 500, including Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft. Vanguard says nearly half of the fund is currently allocated to technology.
The list therefore delivers a simple lesson: beating the S&P 500 for several months is common; beating it for five years is much harder.
And among Vanguard’s entire ETF lineup, energy: not AI or pure mega-cap growth has produced the biggest long-term advantage.
