Why the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF Returned 13% in the First Half of 2021

Shares of the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF (NASDAQ: VONG) returned 12.7% in the first half of 2021, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. This performance is as investors would expect from an exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to track the performance of a specific index, as we'll get to in a moment.

For context, the S&P 500 Index returned 15.3% in the first half of the year.

Year to date (July 15) in 2021, the above noted Vanguard ETF has returned 14.9%, while the S&P 500 has returned 17%. However, over longer periods, the Vanguard Russell 1000 Growth Index ETF has outperformed the S&P 500. Over the last five years, for instance, this ETF has returned 169% versus the S&P 500's 122%.

Source Fool.com