Under the Pioneer Group, there are over 100 funds in the US ETF, but in the past five years, only 8 funds have truly outperformed its flagship product VOO. Compared to the rankings within a year, when we extend the period to five years, many products that were leading at certain stages are no longer superior.
Energy Fund ranked first for five years
The fund with the strongest performance over a five-year period is Vanguard Energy ETF ( VDE ). Data shows that this fund has an annualized return of 25.84% over the past five years, ranking among the top in all of Pioneer's ETF.
This round of gains is related to the rebound in the energy sector. Tightening crude oil supply, improved corporate cash flows, and rising commodity prices have driven the overall upward movement of energy stocks. Recent tensions in the Middle East have also pushed up related stocks.
Pioneer data shows that as of September 10, VDE has accumulated a gain of over 47% in 2026, making it the strongest performer among the company's ETF this year.
Technology funds ranked second.
In second place is Vanguard Information Technology ETF ( VGT ). This fund has had an annualized return of 18.50% over the past five years, mainly benefiting from the rise in companies related to semiconductors, cloud computing, and AI.
Pioneer's latest data also shows that the five-year net value return of VGT has remained at 18.50%. As of early September, this fund has already gained more than 28% in 2026.
It's more challenging to achieve long-term outperformance.
Apart from VDE and VGT, the advantages of other funds that outperformed VOO were not significant, with some products having an annualized return that was only slightly higher by less than 1 percentage point. VOO itself has a fee rate of just 0.03% and covers approximately 500 large American listed companies, making it a benchmark that is quite difficult to consistently surpass.
The article mentions that since the beginning of this year, 38 pioneers ETF have outperformed VOO, mainly benefiting from the rotation of energy stocks, value stocks, international stocks, and small-cap stocks. However, if we look at a five-year period, only 8 have managed to maintain their leading position in the end.
Even for products that focus on large-cap stocks, the long-term advantages are not obvious. Taking MGC as an example, this fund holds large technology stocks such as NVIDIA, Apple, and Microsoft, while Vanguard claims that currently nearly half of its portfolio is allocated to the technology sector.
Overall, it is not uncommon to outperform the S&P 500 in the short term, but it is more challenging to maintain that lead for several years. In the case of Vanguard's current ETF, it has been the energy sector funds that have provided the highest excess returns over the past five years, rather than a pure market-cap growth strategy.
