The Best Vanguard Funds

With more than $10 trillion in assets, Vanguard dominates the mutual fund and exchange-traded fund landscape in the United States. Vanguard’s ETFs and mutual funds are go-to choices for long-term investors, for many reasons:

• Vanguard funds tend to be relatively inexpensive. Vanguard has built its reputation as a low-cost asset manager, and it remains one of the industry’s lower-cost providers.
• Vanguard funds generally pursue simple, reliable strategies. Vanguard’s brand is synonymous with index funds, which, by their very nature, are uncomplicated in their approaches and reliable in their performances.
• Long-term investors can easily build well-diversified portfolios composed exclusively of top-rated Vanguard ETFs or mutual funds. Vanguard covers the bases with excellent choices among the three main asset classes: US stocks, international stocks, and bonds. It also excels in more tightly defined strategies, boasting highly rated style-specific, dividend-stock, real estate, and inflation bond funds.

Morningstar’s list of the best Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs for long-term investors to buy and hold for 2026 and beyond features top-rated funds that we expect to outperform their competitors over a full market cycle. Investors can confidently buy and hold these funds in a long-term portfolio.

Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy: Stocks

Vanguard’s top stock index funds list includes a lot of variety. Some of Vanguard’s best stock index funds and ETFs invest around the globe, while others favor US stocks. Others track indexes based on market capitalization (mid- or small-cap stocks) or investment style (growth stocks or value stocks)—or both. All the building blocks are there to create a well-diversified, buy-and-hold, low-cost equity portfolio.

Here are just some of the best Vanguard index ETFs investing in stocks that earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold with 100% analyst coverage as of June 10, 2026. While we’re showing the ETF share classes here, all of these index trackers have mutual fund share classes, too, for investors who prefer to invest via that vehicle.

Here’s a little bit about each of these popular and top-rated Vanguard stock index funds.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF recently made history: It crossed the trillion-dollar threshold in terms of assets, the first ETF to do so. The ETF is one share class of Vanguard 500 Index VFIAX, which launched in 1976 and is the first and oldest index fund for individual investors. The fund tracks the large-cap US stock market.

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF VTI

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF also tracks the large-cap US stock market, but it holds a much larger number of stocks—3,500 typically. And as a result, this portfolio’s exposure to giant-cap stocks is less than that of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

Vanguard Growth ETF VUG

Vanguard Growth ETF favors the growth side of the large-cap stock market. The portfolio is far more concentrated than the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF or Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, not just in terms of style but also in terms of sector (technology stocks weigh in at more than half the portfolio) and number of stocks (about 150).

Vanguard Value ETF VTV

Vanguard Value ETF leans into the value side of the large-cap stock market. Here, too, you’ll find more concentration in terms of the number of stocks (around 300) than you’d see in a broad-based stock market index fund. With its value bent, this portfolio is far less exposed to technology stocks than the broad market and instead favors the financial-services, industrials, and healthcare sectors.

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF VEA

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF provides exposure to nearly 4,000 non-US stocks from developed markets across the market-cap spectrum; because it weights stocks by market cap, the resulting portfolio lands in the large-blend portion of the Morningstar Style Box.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF VXUS

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF differs from Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF by adding emerging-market stocks to the mix. The resulting portfolio provides exposure to nearly 9,000 stocks across the globe. But here, too, the portfolio has a decidedly large-blend flavor as its holdings are weighted by market capitalization.

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF VIG

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF focuses on stable and profitable companies that have increased their dividend payments for a decade or longer. The resulting passive portfolio may not offer the highest dividend yield, but it provides exposure to high-quality stocks while throwing off some income.

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF VYM

Unlike Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, the focus at Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF is, as its name suggests, high dividend stocks; dividend growth isn’t prioritized. As a result, this portfolio skews more toward value stocks than Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF’s portfolio does—and it offers a more attractive dividend yield, too.

Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF VO

Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF provides exposure to mid-cap stocks across styles: growth, value, and core. The portfolio includes about 300 stocks. Given the makeup of the mid-cap stock universe, the portfolio is lighter on technology stocks than Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF and has more exposure to the industrials and energy sectors.

Vanguard Small Cap ETF VB

Vanguard Small Cap ETF’s portfolio sweeps in more than 1,300 smaller companies spanning the growth, value, and core styles. Given the composition of the small-cap stock market, this portfolio also holds a much lower position in technology stocks than you’ll find in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF.

Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy: Bonds

Vanguard’s top bond index funds to buy for the long term run the gamut, with solid choices investing in bonds of varying types and maturities. Here, too, most investors will find the low-cost building blocks they need to balance an equity-heavy portfolio.

Below are just some of the top Vanguard index ETFs investing in bonds that earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold with 100% analyst coverage as of June 10, 2026. While we’re showing the ETF share classes here, these index trackers have mutual fund share classes, as well.

Here’s a little bit about each of these top-rated Vanguard bond index funds.

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF invests in US investment-grade, fixed-rate taxable bonds. Because the index this fund tracks tilts toward the largest issuers, this portfolio maintains an overweight position in US Treasuries relative to many other intermediate core bond funds.

Vanguard Total International Bond Market ETF BNDX

Vanguard Total International Bond Market ETF focuses on investment-grade international bonds. The portfolio is heavy in government debt and favors developed markets; its largest country exposures are Japan, France, and Germany. It therefore has a higher credit-quality profile than other funds in its category.

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF VGIT

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF invests in US Treasury bonds with three to 10 years remaining to maturity. Given its high-quality focus, credit risk is nonexistent—but interest rate risk is significant.

Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF BSV

Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF favors investment-grade government and corporate bonds with one to five years to maturity. Given the complexion of the short-term bond market, this portfolio is heavily weighted in US Treasury bonds.

Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF VTIP

Vanguard Total Inflation-Protected Securities ETF buys Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities with less than five years until maturity. By favoring shorter-term TIPS, this portfolio is more sensitive to inflation because short-term interest rates move more in tandem with inflation than longer-term rates do.

Best Vanguard Active Funds to Buy and Hold

Although Vanguard may be best known for its comprehensive and highly rated suite of index funds, the asset manager lays claim to several excellent actively managed funds, too, across all asset classes.

Some of Vanguard’s active funds to buy and hold are managed by various well-respected subadvisors, including Primecap and Wellington Management, among others. Like Vanguard’s passive funds, the highly rated members of this active fund lineup charge modest fees relative to other active funds and ETFs.

Here are just some of the best Vanguard active funds investing in stocks, bonds, or some combination that earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold with 100% analyst coverage as of June 10, 2026.

Here’s a little bit about each of these highly rated Vanguard active ETFs and funds.

Vanguard Core Bond ETF VCRB

Vanguard Core Bond ETF is managed by Vanguard’s in-house fixed-income team. They blend top-down macro analysis with bottom-up credit research and invest across a broad swath of bond types, including Treasuries, securitized assets, corporate bonds, and even a bit of emerging-market debt.

Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF VPLS

As its name suggests, Vanguard Core-Plus Bond ETF has more leeway than Vanguard Core Bond ETF, in that it can allocate up to 35% of its portfolio to below-investment-grade debt (though it hasn’t recently) and tends to own a bit more emerging-market debt, too. This portfolio is also managed by Vanguard’s in-house fixed-income team.

Vanguard Wellington Fund VWELX

Vanguard Wellington is not managed in-house; it’s subadvised by Wellington Management. The portfolio is invested in both stocks and bonds, typically in a 65% stock/35% bond allocation. The equity sleeve favors high-quality stocks with competitive advantages; the bond portion features investment-grade bonds that can act as a ballast to equities.

Vanguard Windsor Fund VWNDX

Vanguard Windsor is also subadvised, but by two different subadvisors who practice complementary value styles. Wellington manages 70% of the assets with an eye toward higher-quality firms that are experiencing challenges, while Pzena Investment Management invests the remaining 30% of the portfolio using a classic deep-value strategy.

Vanguard Capital Opportunity Fund VHCOX

Vanguard Capital Opportunity is subadvised by Primecap Management. The managers here focus on companies whose long-term prospects appear to be undervalued by the market; they keep turnover low. While the portfolio lands in the large-blend category, it does tilt toward growth stocks more so than some of its peers.

Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund VDIGX

Vanguard Dividend Growth is also subadvised by Wellington Management. Management focuses on 40-50 companies that grow their dividends steadily; the portfolio thereby skews toward healthy, wide-moat firms.

How to Find More Top Vanguard Funds to Buy and Hold

Of course, we’re only including some of Vanguard’s top-rated funds and ETFs here. Those who’d like to consider Vanguard funds beyond those included here can:

• Visit Morningstar’s asset management company hub for Vanguard. Once there, review lists of Vanguard mutual funds and ETFs, and segment those lists by criteria such as active or passive, stock or bond, and more.
• Build your own Vanguard mutual fund and ETF screen using the Morningstar Investor Screener tool. Beneath Investment Type, choose either mutual fund or ETF; type Vanguard as the keyword. Then drill down further based on asset class, Morningstar Category, ratings, and other metrics that matter to you.