Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

Frequently Asked Questions About VTI

What does VTI invest in?

This ETF's primary objective is to replicate the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index. It holds a broadly diversified equity portfolio, encompassing companies of all market capitalizations—large, medium, and small—and balanced across both growth and value investment approaches. Management follows a passive strategy, often employing an index-sampling technique, and the portfolio typically holds minimal cash, maintaining full investment in its assets. The fund's modest operating costs help ensure its net performance closely aligns with the index by minimizing tracking error. A significant portion (75%) of the fund's assets is subject to certain investment constraints. Specifically, it generally cannot acquire more than 10% of any single company's outstanding voting shares, nor can it hold more than 5% of its total assets in any one issuer's securities. However, these concentration limits may be exceeded if necessary to accurately reflect the composition of its benchmark index. Importantly, these restrictions do not apply to investments in U.S. government debt or securities issued by its agencies.

What is the expense ratio of VTI?

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) charges an expense ratio of 0.03%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations.

How big is VTI?

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) manages $2.30T in total assets. AUM determines bid-ask liquidity and the fund's vulnerability to closure — funds below ~$50M are at higher risk of liquidation.

Is VTI actively managed or an index fund?

VTI is a passive index fund — it tracks a published benchmark by holding the constituents in their published weights. Index funds typically charge low expense ratios (VTI's is 0.03%) because there's no security selection cost.

When was VTI launched?

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) launched in May 2001 and is managed by Vanguard.

How has VTI performed?

VTI's total return — price change plus reinvested distributions — is charted at the top of this page. Switch the price chart to Total Return and pick a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year window to read the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over each horizon.