What Is VXF? Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund ETF Shares
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
VXF is Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund ETF Shares, an ETF that tracks the S&P Completion Index at a 0.05% expense ratio. VXF owns the part of the US stock market that the S&P 500 leaves out. That is roughly 3,000 mid-cap and small-cap companies, and the design intent is right there in the benchmark's name: completion. Hold VOO and VXF together in market-cap proportion and you have approximated the total US market. Hold VXF on its own and you have made an active bet against the mega-caps, which is a very different thing and worth being deliberate about.
VXF is issued by Vanguard and tracks the S&P Completion Index. It charges a 0.05% expense ratio, holds approximately $91.2B in assets under management, yields about 1.05%, and launched in 2001.
What VXF actually holds
Everything in the US market except the S&P 500 constituents. In practice that means mid-caps and small-caps, and the weighting is startlingly flat: as of October 2026 the largest position, Snowflake at 1.4%, is followed by Cloudflare at 1.2%, SpaceX at 1.0%, Cheniere Energy at 0.7%, Bloom Energy at 0.6% and Natera at 0.6%. Strategy, the bitcoin-holding software company, and Revolution Medicines have entered the top ten, while Rocket Lab, Ferguson and Alnylam have dropped out.
That flatness is the fund's defining characteristic. In VOO, the top ten names are roughly a third of the fund and Nvidia alone moves the index. Here the ten largest come to about 7.4%. No single company can meaningfully move VXF, which means what you own is genuinely the behaviour of a segment rather than a handful of stories.
By sector the weight sits in technology at 20% and industrials at 18%, with healthcare at 15% and financials at 15% as of October 2026. Compare that to the S&P 500, where technology alone is near 40%, and the diversification argument for holding both becomes concrete rather than theoretical.
How to use VXF alongside an S&P 500 fund
The standard construction is roughly 80% S&P 500 and 20% VXF, which approximates US total-market weights. Vanguard's own VTI does the same job in one ticker at 0.03%, so the two-fund version only makes sense if you already hold an S&P 500 fund you do not want to sell, often because selling would realise a gain.
That is the honest use case: VXF is a completion holding for a portfolio that already has a large-cap core. Buying it as a standalone US equity position leaves you with no exposure to Apple, Microsoft or Nvidia at all.
Recent performance shows how differently the two halves can move. As of October 16, 2026, VXF's share price was up 7.9% year to date and 9.1% over one year, behind the mega-cap-led S&P 500, and down 4.6% over the prior three months. Its 3-year average annual return was about 19.1%, but the 5-year average was only about 5.0%, a sign of how hard 2022 hit smaller companies.
The bottom line on VXF
VXF is the completion half of a two-fund US portfolio, tracking the S&P Completion Index at 0.05% with about $91.2B in assets as of October 2026 and a history back to 2001. Its flat weighting and industrials-and-technology tilt make it behave quite differently from the S&P 500, which is the entire point. If you do not already hold a large-cap core, a total-market fund does the same job in one trade.
VXF holdings: top 10
Approximate weights as of October 2026. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.
| Rank | Ticker | Company | % of VXF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SNOW | Snowflake Inc Ordinary Shares | 1.4% | |
| 2 | NET | Cloudflare Inc | 1.2% | |
| 3 | SPCX | Space Exploration Technologies Corp Class A | 1.0% | |
| 4 | LNG | Cheniere Energy Inc | 0.7% | |
| 5 | BE | Bloom Energy Corp Class A | 0.6% | |
| 6 | NTRA | Natera Inc | 0.6% | |
| 7 | MSTR | Strategy Inc Class A | 0.5% | |
| 8 | RVMD | Revolution Medicines Inc Ordinary Shares | 0.5% | |
| 9 | ALAB | Astera Labs Inc | 0.5% | |
| 10 | CRDO | Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd | 0.4% |
How do I invest in VXF?
There are three common ways to get VXF exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of VXF 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 VXF sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. VXF 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.
Is VXF a good buy?
Whether VXF is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks the S&P Completion Index, 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 VXF a buy?
The bottom line on VXF
VXF gives you the S&P Completion Index 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.
More on VXF
Whether VXF 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 VXF a buy?
VXF yields 1.05% 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 VXF dividend: yield and schedule.
For what analysts expect from the companies VXF holds, its yield as a guide to income, and why no one publishes a price target for the fund itself, see the VXF forecast.
New to funds like VXF? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.
Wondering how VXF fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in VXF with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how VXF fits what you actually hold: what it overlaps with, what it leaves you exposed to, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is VXF?
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VXF is the Vanguard Extended Market ETF. It tracks the S&P Completion Index, which is the US stock market with the S&P 500 removed: roughly 3,000 mid-cap and small-cap companies. It charges 0.05%, holds about $91.2B as of October 2026, and has traded since 2001.
What does VXF hold?
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Mid-caps and small-caps, weighted very flat. As of October 2026 the largest positions were Snowflake at 1.4%, Cloudflare at 1.2%, SpaceX at 1.0%, Cheniere Energy at 0.7% and Bloom Energy at 0.6%. The ten largest together are only about 7.4% of the fund, so no individual company drives it.
Is VXF the same as a total stock market fund?
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No, and the difference matters. A total-market fund like VTI holds the whole US market including Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. VXF holds the market with the S&P 500 deliberately excluded. Owning VXF alone leaves you with zero mega-cap exposure.
How do I combine VXF with an S&P 500 fund?
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Roughly 80% S&P 500 and 20% VXF approximates US total-market weights. That pairing exists mainly for people who already own an S&P 500 fund and do not want to trigger a taxable gain by consolidating into a single total-market fund.
VXF vs VTI: which should I hold?
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VTI is the whole US market in one ticker at 0.03%. VXF is that market minus the S&P 500 at 0.05%. If you are starting fresh, VTI is simpler and marginally cheaper. VXF earns its place when you already hold a large-cap core and need the missing piece.
Why is VXF's sector mix so different from the S&P 500?
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Because removing the 500 largest companies removes most of the mega-cap technology weight. As of October 2026 VXF sits at technology 20%, industrials 18% and healthcare 15%, while the S&P 500 runs near 40% technology. That gap is the diversification VXF actually provides.
Does VXF pay a dividend?
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It distributed about 1.05% as of October 2026, typically quarterly. Smaller and faster-growing companies tend to retain earnings rather than pay them out, which is why the yield is well below a large-cap or dividend-focused fund.
How volatile is VXF compared with the S&P 500?
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Historically more so. Mid-caps and small-caps tend to fall harder in downturns and recover faster afterwards, and VXF has no mega-cap ballast to soften the move. Expect a wider ride than an S&P 500 fund, not a smoother one. Its 3-year beta was about 1.25 as of October 2026, and its share price fell 4.6% over the three months to October 16, 2026, while still up 7.9% for the year.
What are the risks of holding VXF?
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It is concentrated in the more economically sensitive end of the market. Industrials at 18% and a heavy small-cap weighting mean it is more exposed to the credit cycle and to rate rises than a mega-cap fund. It is also not a complete portfolio on its own, by construction.
What is VXF's expense ratio?
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VXF has an expense ratio of 0.05% per year as of October 2026, charged by Vanguard and deducted from the fund's value rather than billed to you separately. On a $10,000 position that is roughly $5 a year. Fees compound over time, so on a long-term holding the expense ratio is one of the few return drivers you control. It is worth comparing against other funds that track the S&P Completion Index before you choose.
How do I compare VXF to similar ETFs?
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Put a few fields side by side: the expense ratio (fees compound over decades), the index or strategy it tracks, the top holdings and how much they overlap with what you already own, the dividend yield, and the AUM, liquidity, and bid-ask spread that affect trading costs. For index funds, tracking error (how closely it follows its index) and tax efficiency matter too. VXF's figures are above; the full method is in Walnut's guide on how to compare ETFs.
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Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Holdings weights and fund statistics on this page are approximations stamped to October 2026; verify current figures against Vanguard's fund page or your broker before investing.