This Vanguard ETF Just Made Stock Market History. Here's Why It's Still a Fantastic Investment in 2026.
Written by Ben Gran for The Motley Fool -> The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF recently surpassed $1 trillion of assets, making it easily the largest ETF. This low-cost index fund has delivered a 15.2% annualized return since its inception in September 2010. Vanguard's flagship S&P 500 e
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF recently surpassed $1 trillion of assets, making it easily the largest ETF.
This low-cost index fund has delivered a 15.2% annualized return since its inception in September 2010.
Vanguard's flagship S&P 500 exchange-traded fund (ETF) reached a big milestone on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg data, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) just passed $1 trillion in net assets. This makes it the first ETF in history to pass the $1 trillion mark. The fund has received more than $69 billion of inflows so far in 2026, according to Bloomberg's analysis.
Having $1 trillion in assets doesn't mean the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF is better than or guaranteed to outperform other ETFs. But reaching $1 trillion of assets in the fund is an impressive achievement. It shows just how popular and essential this ETF has become for millions of everyday stock market investors.
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Let's see why the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF became popular enough to attract $1 trillion of investors' savings -- and whether you should buy it, too.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF will never beat the S&P 500 . That's because it holds the same stocks as the S&P 500 index and tracks its performance. When you buy this ETF, you will receive (almost) exactly the same return as the S&P 500.
Many individual stocks and other funds fail to beat the S&P 500. Just earning that S&P 500 return (which has averaged 9.92% per year since 1928) is a good accomplishment for most investors. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF was established in September 2010, and since then, it has delivered average annual returns of 15.18%. If you had invested $10,000 in this ETF on the day of its inception and left that money alone to grow for more than 15 years, today you'd have $91,670.
