Two Titans of the U.S. Stock Market: VTI vs. ITOT

Both funds claim to own the entire U.S. equity market-large, mid, and small-cap stocks, stitched together with the same thread of low cost. Yet the gulf between them is not in what they hold, but in how they hold it. VTI, with its 3,598 stocks and 24.5-year track record, is a machine honed by time. ITOT, with 2,497 stocks, is a capable workhorse, but its wheels lack the grease of VTI’s scale. The question is not which is better, but which is more likely to outlast the next crisis.






