SPY vs VFORX: 39% overlap

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 share 38.5% of their portfolios by weight — computed as Σ min(wA, wB) over every holding both funds own.

Different holding dates. These holdings were published about 4 months apart — VFORX as of 2026-03-31, the rest through 2026-07-23. Each fund is compared using its most recent file, so any trading in between shows up as a difference.

Hold both, 50/50
1.6Effective Funds

You would hold two tickers and get the diversification of 1.6. Two funds that shared nothing would score 2.0; two identical funds score 1.0.

Overlap
38.5%
SPY expense ratio
0.09%
VFORX expense ratio
0.08%

Top shared holdings

SPY and VFORX hold 501 of the same securities. The ten contributing most to the overlap figure:

Holdingin SPYin VFORXΔ
NVDA7.9%2.8%5.2%
AAPL7.4%2.5%4.9%
MSFT4.4%1.7%2.8%
AMZN3.6%1.4%2.2%
GOOGL2.9%1.3%1.7%
AVGO2.9%1.1%1.8%
GOOG2.4%1.0%1.4%
MU1.8%0.8%1.0%
META2.1%0.7%1.3%
TSLA1.4%0.7%0.7%

Where SPY and VFORX differ

Sector weights as a share of each fund, ordered by the size of the gap rather than the size of the sector — two funds that overlap heavily still usually diverge somewhere.

SectorSPYVFORXΔ
Information Technology37.5%21.6%+15.9pp
Unclassified0.0%9.7%9.7pp
Treasuries0.0%8.7%8.7pp
Communication Services9.3%4.9%+4.4pp
MBS Pass-Through0.0%3.7%3.7pp
Health Care9.1%5.8%+3.4pp
Corporate — industrial & other0.0%2.8%2.8pp
Consumer Discretionary8.8%6.3%+2.5pp

Δ is SPY minus VFORX, in percentage points. Sector data is not published by every issuer, so “Unclassified” is a real category rather than a gap in the table.

What each fund holds alone

Only in SPY
3 positions

0.1% of SPY by weight, held in no part of VFORX.

Only in VFORX
16,181 positions

61.1% of VFORX by weight, held in no part of SPY.

A large count with a small weight is the usual shape: the positions one fund adds are typically its smallest ones.

Concentration and cost

SPYVFORX
Top 10 holdings36.9%23.9%
Positions held5056
Cost per $10,000 held, per year$9$8

Cost is the expense ratio applied to $10,000; it excludes any brokerage commission, bid-ask spread or tax consequence. Figures are facts about the funds, not a suggestion about which to hold.

Frequently asked

How much do SPY and VFORX overlap?

SPY and VFORX overlap 38.5% by portfolio weight — moderate overlap. They share 501 holdings. The figure comes from current issuer holdings files (SPY as of 2026-07-23, VFORX as of 2026-03-31).

How is the overlap between SPY and VFORX calculated?

As the sum of the smaller weight in each fund, over every holding both funds own: Σ min(wA, wB). If SPY holds a stock at 6% and VFORX holds the same stock at 4%, 4% counts as shared. The result is bounded between 0% and 100%, and it is computed after looking through any fund-of-funds to the underlying holdings.

Is it redundant to hold both SPY and VFORX?

That depends on your goals — we state facts, not advice. At 38.5% overlap, each fund still contributes meaningfully distinct exposure.

What does SPY own that VFORX doesn't?

SPY holds 505 positions and VFORX holds 6; 3 of SPY's positions don't appear in VFORX at all, and they are 0.1% of SPY by weight.

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Related comparisons

Sources: issuer holdings files, SPY as of 2026-07-23, VFORX as of 2026-03-31. Weights are fractions of each fund. Diagnostics, not advice.