3 Brilliant Growth Stock ETFs to Buy Now and Hold for the Long Term

From 2023 to the extremity of 2025, portfolios that were heavy invested successful maturation stocks, particularly megacap, tech, and artificial quality (AI)-focused maturation stocks, astir apt outperformed the large indexes similar the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC). But 2026 is different.

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Tech-heavy sectors, similar tech and communications, person mislaid worth twelvemonth to date. And each "Magnificent Seven" banal is down -- from Nvidia to Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Tesla.

So it's unsurprising that growth-heavy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are besides nether pressure.

Here are 3 ETFs that basal retired arsenic apical buys for long-term-focused investors.

The Vanguard Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: VUG) has "foundational holding" written each implicit it. Its ultra-low-cost 0.04% disbursal ratio is simply a passive investor's imagination travel true.

The money has historically performed akin to the Nasdaq-100, but it has a fewer cardinal differences. The Nasdaq-100 invests successful the largest non-financial companies listed connected the Nasdaq banal speech -- meaning it won't put successful maturation stocks similar Oracle that are listed connected the New York Stock Exchange. However, that besides means the Nasdaq-100 is going to see a batch of megacap stocks that aren't needfully maturation stocks.

For example, Walmart is the ninth-largest Nasdaq-100 holding, Costco Wholesale is No. 12, and PepsiCo is No. 21. These are user staples stocks with single-digit to low-double-digit net maturation rates -- not high-octane AI maturation stocks. Vanguard splits astir large-cap stocks into either its maturation ETF oregon the Vanguard Value ETF (NYSEMKT: VTV) -- electing to see Costco successful the Growth ETF but putting Walmart and Pepsi successful the Value ETF.

Down 6.1% twelvemonth to date, the Vanguard Growth ETF is simply a coagulated bargain for investors looking for a low-cost mode to get vulnerability to a handbasket of 151 stocks.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: MGK) is fundamentally a much concentrated mentation of the Vanguard Growth ETF. With conscionable 60 holdings, it assigns a greater value to the largest maturation stocks by marketplace cap.

The Mega Cap Growth ETF has a 59.4% weighting successful the Magnificent Seven. Throw successful Broadcom, Eli Lilly, and Visa, and that's 68.4% of the ETF successful conscionable 10 stocks.

Since Magnificent Seven stocks person been falling much than the broader market, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF is down somewhat much than the Vanguard Growth ETF twelvemonth to date.