The "Magnificent Seven" Stocks Could Help This Unstoppable Vanguard ETF Turn $200,000 Into $1 Million in Under 15 Years
In 2023, Wall Street analyst Michael Hartnett from Bank of America assigned a nickname to a group of seven of America's largest technology stocks -- not just for their size, but also their ability to consistently beat the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) index.
He called this group the "Magnificent Seven," and they have delivered a median return of 886% over the last 10 years, compared to a return of 185% for the S&P:
NVDA data by YCharts
In other words, investors who haven't owned the Magnificent Seven stocks over the last decade have probably underperformed the broader market by a very wide margin. But here's the good news: The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (NYSEMKT: MGK) offers investors a simple way to buy them all, with a splash of diversification.
It's an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests exclusively in America's largest companies, and the Magnificent Seven account for over half of the total value of its entire portfolio. Here's how the ETF could turn an investment of $200,000 into $1 million over the next 15 years (or less).
The Magnificent Seven represent half of the value of this ETF
The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF tracks the CRSP U.S. Mega Cap Growth Index, which invests in the top 70% of the cumulative market capitalization of the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index. The CRSP U.S. Total Market Index holds each of the 3,537 stocks listed on American exchanges.
The U.S. Mega Cap Growth Index (and by extension, the Vanguard ETF) only holds 69 stocks, which highlights the incredible concentration of wealth in corporate America. To put it another way, just 69 companies represent 70% of the entire value of the 3,537 companies listed on American stock exchanges.
It isn't entirely surprising considering the Magnificent Seven stocks have a combined market capitalization of $17 trillion, which they have accumulated by dominating various subsegments of the technology industry including cloud computing, semiconductors, e-commerce, social media, and electric vehicles.
As a result, the Magnificent Seven stocks alone represent 56.3% of the total value of the Vanguard ETF's portfolio of 69 stocks:
Data source: Vanguard. Portfolio weightings are accurate as of May 31, 2025, and are subject to change.
Each of the Magnificent Seven companies are now focused on artificial intelligence (AI), which could be their largest financial opportunity ever. Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet have created their own AI models and chatbots, but they also operate some of the world's best data centers, which they rent to other AI developers for profit. Even the smallest Magnificent Seven company, Tesla, is now a leading developer of AI-powered autonomous driving software.
But it's Nvidia that has become the poster child for the AI revolution thanks to its graphics processing units (GPUs) for the data center, which are the most powerful chips for developing AI models.
As I mentioned earlier, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF gives investors an opportunity to own the Magnificent Seven stocks in a more diversified manner than buying them outright. Within its top 20 holdings, investors will find several popular non-technology stocks like Visa, Eli Lilly, Costco Wholesale, McDonald's, and Intuit.
Turning $200,000 into $1 million in under 15 years
The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF has delivered a compound annual return of 13% since it was established in 2007, beating the S&P 500 which has generated an average annual gain of 10.1% over the same period.
A 13% annual return would be enough to turn an investment of $200,000 into $1 million within around 13 years and three months. In fact, the ETF could still deliver a fivefold return within 15 years even if its annual return slowed to 11.3%.
However, returns appear to be accelerating instead. The ETF has delivered an annual gain of 16.1% over the last 10 years, a 17.8% annual gain over the last five years, and a 20.7% annual gain over the last three years. The surging dominance of the Magnificent Seven stocks and their peers across the tech and tech-adjacent industries are the main drivers of those increased returns.
I'm not suggesting they will remain at those elevated levels over the long run, but AI could certainly help the Vanguard ETF maintain its above-average performances for the next few years at least. Global consulting firm PwC predicts AI will add $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, and a lot of that value will be driven by the tech giants in this ETF.
Nevertheless, it's never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. This Vanguard ETF is a great buy primarily for investors with a diversified portfolio that has little or no exposure to the Magnificent Seven stocks already.
Should you invest $1,000 in Vanguard World Fund - Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF right now?
Before you buy stock in Vanguard World Fund - Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard World Fund - Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $660,821!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $886,880!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is791% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to174%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025
Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Bank of America, Costco Wholesale, Intuit, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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