ETF Evaluator: Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF (VTHR) Follow This ETF

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF Overview

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF (VTHR) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). Vanguard launched the ETF in 2010.

The investment seeks to track the performance of the Russell 3000® Index that measures the investment return of the broad U.S. stock market. The advisor employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 98% of the U.S. equity market and comprises the 3,000 largest companies in the United States. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. The fund is non-diversified.

About Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF (VTHR)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.61 years: Aaron Choi (2025) and Kenny Narzikul (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and DJ US Total Stock Market TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has 2989 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 33.4% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has 0.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.1% There is 0.7% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $4 billion in total assets, which is below the $13 billion average for the Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VTHR Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Large Blend category. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has an expense ratio of 0.06%, which is 86% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 4%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.3 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 152% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of September 2026, Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF returned -0.8%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Large Blend category had an average return of -1.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has a trailing yield of 1.03%, which is below the 1.39% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 12.4%, 1.5 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 15.1% over the past year (grade of C), 22.2% over the past three years (grade of C) and 12.6% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 14.6% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF Risk

A basic investment concept is that risk should be rewarded. Standard deviation measures the degree of variation in return experienced relative to the average return for an ETF. It notes the recent volatility of the ETF but does not explain the elements impacting the volatility. For example, portfolio concentration or exposure to foreign investments can impact the volatility and should be examined to gain an understanding of the ETF.

The total risk index relates the volatility of the ETF to the volatility of all ETFs. It can help you understand the volatility of an ETF across all categories. Ratios above 1.00 indicate higher risk than average. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has an average total risk index of 1.06 because of its standard deviation of 12.8%.

The category risk index relates the volatility of an ETF to the average volatility for ETFs in the same investment category. Vanguard Russell 3000 ETF has an average category risk of 0.98, giving it a category risk grade of C. Letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon these relative rankings.