What Is VBK? Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

Two risk factors stack here. Small companies carry more operating and financial leverage, less diversified revenue and thinner balance sheets. Growth companies derive more of their value from earnings expected years out, which makes them acutely sensitive to interest rates.

Put those together and you get a fund that can fall harder than almost anything else in a broad equity allocation, and recover faster. That is not a flaw. It is what the fund is for, and it is why position sizing matters more here than in a large-cap holding.

The weighting is very flat, which is characteristic of small-cap indices. As of October 2026: Natera at 1.3%, Revolution Medicines at 1.2%, Credo Technology at 1.1%, Twilio at 1.0%, TechnipFMC at 0.9% and Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) at 0.9%. No holding can move the fund alone, and Astera Labs, a top-three name in the summer, has dropped out of the top ten.

The sector mix explains the behaviour better than the holdings do: technology at 27%, industrials at 20%, healthcare at 20% and consumer discretionary at 9%. That healthcare weight is worth pausing on, because in small-cap growth it means clinical-stage biotechnology, where individual outcomes are binary and a large share of companies are not profitable at all.

VBR and VBK split the same small-cap universe. VBR takes the cheap half, ends up heavy in financials and industrials, and yields about 1.78%. VBK takes the growth half, ends up heavy in technology and healthcare, and yields about 0.41%.

They tend to work at different times, which is the honest argument for holding the whole small-cap market through a single fund like VB instead. Choosing VBK specifically is a decision that small-cap growth in particular is where you want the risk.

Approximate weights as of October 2026. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

There are three common ways to get VBK exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of VBK directly at any major broker that lists it. Hold it as a core position and layer more concentrated ideas on top. Or build it into a thematic portfolio in Walnut, so VBK sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. VBK trades like a stock during market hours, so you buy it the same way you would any listed share.

New to buying funds? See how to buy an ETF, step by step.

Whether VBK is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks a Morningstar US small-cap growth index (replaced the CRSP U.S. Small Cap Growth Index in 2026), so the real question is whether you want that exposure in your mix and at what weight. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is VBK a buy?

VBK gives you a Morningstar US small-cap growth index (replaced the CRSP U.S. Small Cap Growth Index in 2026) exposure in one ticker at a 0.05% expense ratio. Most investors use it as a core holding and layer more concentrated thematic portfolios on top.

Whether VBK is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is VBK a buy?

VBK yields 0.41% as of October 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see VBK dividend: yield and schedule.

For what analysts expect from the companies VBK holds, its yield as a guide to income, and why no one publishes a price target for the fund itself, see the VBK forecast.

New to funds like VBK? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.