Investing with Foresight: The Vanguard Growth ETF as a Top Pick for 2025

The stock market is also enjoying extremely strong figures in 2024: The S&P 500 is heading for another year with more than 20% profitability. The benchmark index has already achieved a total return, including dividends, of nearly 25% – a success that ties in with the impressive 26% from 2023. The statistics are clear: For the fourth time in six years, the S&P 500 could record an annual gain of 20% or more. Since the 2008 financial crisis, there have been only two negative years, namely 2022 with an 18% loss and 2018 with a decline of about 4%. The current bull market, which started over two years ago, is thus well within the average duration of such market developments, which has been about five and a half years since 1950, as data from Carson Investment Research shows. In this economic environment, a Vanguard ETF stands out in particular: the Vanguard Growth ETF. For 2025, this is emerging as the most promising index fund. The ETF tracks the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index and represents the growth-oriented side of the S&P 500. The ETF's portfolio weighting is strongly focused, with the three largest positions being Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft, which together make up almost one-third of the entire fund's value. Expanding the focus to Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Tesla, these seven technology giants account for about 52.5% of the portfolio. Despite this concentration risk, the ETF offers impressive prospects: Its average annual returns of 15.6% clearly surpass the S&P 500's 13.4%. The fund was also extremely successful in 2024, with an increase of 32.1% by the end of November. This positive development is primarily due to the Vanguard Growth ETF's involvement with industry leaders in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). From AI chips to cloud services and self-driving systems, the largest fund positions play a crucial role. As long as investments in AI remain strong and companies advance their AI models, the ETF remains an extremely attractive option for investors.