# VOO, SCHG, and QQQM Overlap: Does Holding All Three Diversify You?

Source: https://cluenex.com/learn/portfolio-management/holding-voo-schg-qqqm-together-actually/
Publisher: Cluenex (https://cluenex.com)
Updated: 2026-11-03

## Short answer

Holding VOO, SCHG, and QQQM together does not diversify your portfolio because the three funds share an overlap by weight of over 50% to 68%. In an equal-weight split across all three, more than 42% of your entire portfolio sits in just six mega-cap tech stocks: Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta.

## Key takeaways

- Holding VOO, SCHG, and QQQM creates false diversification because all three funds are market-cap weighted baskets dominated by the same mega-cap tech companies.
- SCHG overlaps with VOO by roughly 56% by weight, QQQM overlaps with VOO by roughly 53%, and SCHG overlaps with QQQM by roughly 67%.
- In an equal three-way split, your exposure to Technology and Communication Services exceeds 50%, while defensive sectors like Utilities, Energy, and Real Estate drop below 2% each.
- Instead of adding new sources of return, pairing SCHG and QQQM with VOO simply concentrates your money into a double-leveraged bet on large-cap US growth.

## Does holding VOO, SCHG, and QQQM diversify you?

No, holding VOO, SCHG, and QQQM together does not provide meaningful diversification. While buying three different fund tickers makes an account look balanced, all three exchange-traded funds (ETFs) heavily duplicate the exact same large-cap US companies.

Diversification works when you combine assets that behave differently under varying economic conditions. For instance, pairing US large-cap equities with international stocks, small-cap companies, or fixed income lowers portfolio volatility because downturns in one area are cushioned by stability in another. You can read more about core allocation principles in our guide on [portfolio diversification](/learn/portfolio-management/portfolio-diversification/).

When you buy VOO, SCHG, and QQQM, you are not buying distinct economic drivers. You are buying three index funds whose top positions are nearly identical. Rather than spreading your risk, holding all three concentrates your money into the same handful of mega-cap technology and growth companies.

## What is the overlap between VOO, SCHG, and QQQM?

The overlap between these three funds ranges between 52% and 68% by weight, meaning more than half of the dollars invested in one fund duplicate the holdings of the next. 

To understand why this happens, look at how each ETF builds its portfolio:

* **VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF):** Tracks the S&P 500 Index, holding roughly 500 large US companies weighted by free-float market capitalization. Its expense ratio is 0.03%.
* **SCHG (Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF):** Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index, holding roughly 190 to 250 fast-growing large companies. Its expense ratio is 0.04%.
* **QQQM (Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF):** Tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, holding 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange. Its expense ratio is 0.15%.

Because the largest growth and Nasdaq-listed stocks are also the largest companies in the S&P 500, the funds mirror each other's largest positions. Here is how their pair-by-pair overlap looks by weight and holding counts:

| ETF Pair | Overlap by Weight | Shared Holdings | Key Overlapping Positions |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **SCHG vs VOO** | ~56% | ~190 stocks | Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta |
| **QQQM vs VOO** | ~53% | ~84 stocks | Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Broadcom |
| **SCHG vs QQQM** | ~67% | ~75 stocks | Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet |

Nearly 100% of the dollars in SCHG and over 82% of the dollars in QQQM are invested in companies that already exist inside VOO. Owning all three does not expand your market reach: it simply buys the top slice of VOO three separate times.

## How concentrated does an equal split become?

If you invest $10,000 equally across VOO, SCHG, and QQQM ($3,333 in each), over $4,200 ends up in just six companies. Rather than owning an expansive slice of the economy, you build a [concentrated stock position](/learn/portfolio-management/concentrated-stock-position/) in mega-cap tech.

To see the arithmetic, compare each fund's portfolio weight in the top six US companies:

| Company | VOO Weight | SCHG Weight | QQQM Weight | Blended Portfolio Weight (Equal Split) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Nvidia (NVDA)** | 8.1% | 11.9% | 8.4% | **9.47%** |
| **Apple (AAPL)** | 7.4% | 12.1% | 7.8% | **9.10%** |
| **Microsoft (MSFT)** | 5.8% | 9.3% | 5.8% | **6.97%** |
| **Amazon (AMZN)** | 3.7% | 5.7% | 4.1% | **4.50%** |
| **Alphabet (GOOGL/GOOG)** | 5.2% | 5.8% | 5.9% | **5.63%** |
| **Meta Platforms (META)** | 2.4% | 4.5% | 3.3% | **3.40%** |
| **Top 6 Total** | **32.6%** | **49.3%** | **35.3%** | **39.07%** |

When you add Broadcom (roughly 3.1% blended) and Tesla (roughly 1.5% blended), your combined exposure to just eight companies climbs above 43%. 

By comparison, an investor holding only VOO allocates about 36% to those same eight companies. Adding SCHG and QQQM increases your concentration in those eight names by roughly seven percentage points while charging higher blended fees. If those eight stocks face antitrust pressure, hardware inventory gluts, or multiple compression, your entire portfolio falls together.

## How does holding all three warp your sector exposure?

Combining VOO, SCHG, and QQQM dramatically tilts your portfolio toward technology and communications while cutting traditional defensive sectors to near zero. 

In VOO alone, Technology makes up roughly 38% to 40% of assets, followed by Financials at 11%, Healthcare at 9%, and Consumer Cyclicals at 9%. That is already a heavy tech weighting by historical standards. However, because QQQM excludes financial companies entirely and tilts over 50% into technology, and SCHG allocates nearly 48% to tech, an equal three-way split creates severe sector skew:

* **Information Technology:** Expands to roughly 46% of the portfolio.
* **Communication Services:** Sits near 11% to 12%.
* **Financial Services:** Dilutes from 11% in VOO down to less than 4% blended, because QQQM holds 0% financials.
* **Energy, Utilities, and Materials:** Drop to between 1.0% and 1.8% each.

When tech valuations stretch, this sector imbalance matters. According to Cluenex sector data, the Technology sector trades at a forward P/E of 30.3x (Cluenex data, https://cluenex.com/learn/data/sector-benchmarks/), compared to an overall market benchmark of 22.4x (Cluenex data, https://cluenex.com/learn/data/sector-benchmarks/). If enterprise spending cools or rates rise, high-multiple growth stocks suffer the steepest drops, as detailed in our guide on [P/E multiple compression](/learn/fundamental-analysis/pe-multiple-compression/).

## Where does holding multiple growth funds make sense?

Holding both a broad market fund and a growth ETF makes sense only if you understand that you are making an intentional overweight bet, not diversifying. 

If your goal is to deliberately tilt your asset allocation toward tech-heavy momentum stocks because you have a multi-decade horizon and high risk tolerance, buying SCHG or QQQM achieves that goal. However, you do not need both. 

SCHG and QQQM have a 67% overlap with one another. SCHG has a lower expense ratio (0.04% versus 0.15% for QQQM) and includes financial growth companies, whereas QQQM's portfolio construction is arbitrarily restricted to the Nasdaq exchange. Holding both simply adds clutter and trading friction without altering your return profile in any measurable way.

Investors curious about how growth pairs with cash-generative equities can compare this setup to the dividend approach analyzed in our breakdown of the [50/50 SCHG and SCHD portfolio](/learn/portfolio-management/50-50-schg-schd-portfolio-effective/).

## Common mistakes when pairing VOO, SCHG, and QQQM

Retail investors frequently make three mistakes when assembling this three-fund portfolio:

1. **Confusing fund count with security diversification:** Owning three funds from three different providers (Vanguard, Schwab, and Invesco) feels safe. In reality, looking through to the underlying assets reveals you are holding three wrappers around the same 10 companies.
2. **Paying higher fees for the same stocks:** QQQM charges 0.15%, which is five times the 0.03% expense ratio of VOO. Paying 0.15% to hold Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft inside QQQM when you already own them at 0.03% in VOO creates an unnecessary drag on compounding.
3. **Assuming past outperformance equals structural advantage:** Mega-cap growth outperformed from 2014 through 2024, leading many to believe that stacking SCHG and QQQM on top of VOO generates permanent outperformance. Historically, market leadership rotates: value, small caps, and dividend stocks have led for multi-year stretches following periods of extreme growth concentration.

## What this means for you

If you manage your own money in an IRA, 401(k), or taxable brokerage account, you can simplify your strategy and make your risk deliberate:

* **Check your actual company weights:** Before adding another ETF, use a look-through overlap tool to see your total dollars in individual names. If any single stock exceeds 10% of your total liquid net worth, you carry single-stock risk regardless of how many ETF tickers you hold. You can review the fundamentals, valuation case, and business health of individual holdings like Apple or Microsoft directly on [Cluenex stock pages](https://cluenex.com/stocks/aapl/).
* **Pick one core fund:** For most self-directed investors, a single broad index fund like VOO (or a total market fund like VTI) serves as the primary US equity building block. It automatically holds and market-cap weights top growth leaders at minimal cost.
* **Make tilts explicit:** If you choose to tilt toward tech, select one satellite vehicle rather than stacking overlapping funds. Keeping 80% in VOO and 20% in SCHG gives you an explicit, low-cost growth tilt without the unnecessary duplication of holding QQQM alongside them.
* **Diversify across asset classes:** True diversification comes from adding uncorrelated assets, such as small-cap equities, international developed or emerging markets, Treasury bills, or short-term bonds, not from owning three funds that hold the same Silicon Valley headquarters.

## Questions people ask

### Is it redundant to own both VOO and QQQM?

Yes, owning both VOO and QQQM is largely redundant because they share an overlap by weight of roughly 53%. More than 80% of QQQM's portfolio consists of large-cap companies that are already prominent holdings in VOO.

### Which is better between SCHG and QQQM?

SCHG is generally more cost-efficient for long-term investors because its expense ratio is 0.04% compared to 0.15% for QQQM. SCHG also selects large growth stocks across all US exchanges, whereas QQQM is arbitrarily restricted to companies listed on the Nasdaq.

### What happens if tech stocks crash when you hold VOO, SCHG, and QQQM?

If mega-cap tech stocks crash, a portfolio split equally among VOO, SCHG, and QQQM will fall significantly harder than the broader market. Over 40% of your money is concentrated in the top eight tech-related companies, meaning losses in those names dictate your total portfolio return.

### How can I actually diversify away from VOO?

To genuinely diversify away from VOO, add asset classes that do not duplicate large-cap US equities. These include international index funds (such as VXUS), US small-cap value funds (such as AVUV), or fixed-income instruments like US Treasury bonds.

## Sources

- [Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) Overview and Holdings](https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/voo)
- [Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF (SCHG) Fund Profile](https://www.schwabassetmanagement.com/products/schg)
- [Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) Fact Sheet and Holdings](https://www.invesco.com/us/financial-products/etfs/product-detail?audienceType=Investor&ticker=QQQM)
- [ETF Overlap Tool and Holdings Weight Comparison](https://www.etfrc.com/funds/overlap.php)

Cite as: Cluenex. "VOO, SCHG, and QQQM Overlap: Does Holding All Three Diversify You?." Cluenex Learn, updated Nov 3, 2026. https://cluenex.com/learn/portfolio-management/holding-voo-schg-qqqm-together-actually/