ETF comparison

VUSA vs IWDA

Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing
IE00B3XXRP09Vanguard
iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF
IE00B4L5Y983iShares
Figures as of September 30, 2026 (VUSA) · October 1, 2026 (IWDA)

The comparison in short

VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing, IE00B3XXRP09) tracks the S&P 500 index and IWDA (iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, IE00B4L5Y983) the MSCI World index. VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.20% for IWDA, 0.13 percentage points less, or about 13 a year on 10,000 invested. IWDA is the larger fund, with USD 152.1bn in assets against USD 88.97bn for VUSA, about 1.7 times the size. VUSA reports 512 holdings and IWDA 1,250. 9 of the holdings published by VUSA (top 10) and IWDA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA Corp., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.. In 2025, VUSA returned +17.6% and IWDA +21.2%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 10 years, VUSA returned +15.0% a year and IWDA +12.9% a year. IWDA reinvests its income (accumulating), while VUSA pays it out (distributing). VUSA and IWDA both hold the index securities directly (physical replication). Both are domiciled in Ireland. VUSA and IWDA both carry a risk indicator (SRRI) of 4 on the 1–7 scale. This is a factual comparison from the fund houses' documents, not investment advice.

Side by side

FigureVUSAIWDA
ISINIE00B3XXRP09IE00B4L5Y983
Exchange tickersVUSA, VUSDIWDA, SWDA, EUNL
Fund houseVanguardiShares
Total expense ratio (TER)0.07%0.20%
Ongoing charges (KID)0.07%0.20%
Fund sizeUSD 88.97bnUSD 152.1bn
Launch dateMay 22, 2012September 25, 2009
ReplicationPhysicalPhysical
DomicileIrelandIreland
Distribution policyDistributingAccumulating
Share class currencyUSDUSD
Number of holdings5121,250
Risk indicator (SRRI)4 / 74 / 7
SFDR classification—Article 6
BenchmarkS&P 500 Net Total ReturnMSCI World Index (Net)

Performance

Calendar-year returns

YearVUSAIWDADifference
2025+17.6%+21.2%−3.6
2024+24.7%+18.7%+6.0
2023+25.9%+23.9%+2.0
2022−18.3%−18.0%−0.3
2021+28.4%+21.9%+6.5
2020+18.0%+15.9%+2.1

Annualised returns

PeriodVUSAIWDADifference
1 year+15.5%+14.6%+0.9
3 years+22.6%+21.6%+1.0
5 years+13.5%+11.8%+1.7
10 years+15.0%+12.9%+2.1
Returns as published by each fund house, in each share class's currency and net of the fund's charges. The difference is in percentage points. Past performance does not predict future returns.

Holdings

9 of the holdings published by VUSA (top 10) and IWDA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA Corp., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc..

Top 10 holdings of VUSA

#HoldingWeight
1
NVIDIA Corp.In both
8.10%
2
Apple Inc.In both
7.00%
3
Microsoft Corp.In both
5.70%
4
Alphabet Inc.In both
5.40%
5
Amazon.com Inc.In both
3.80%
6
Broadcom Inc.In both
2.70%
7
Meta Platforms Inc.In both
1.90%
8
Micron Technology Inc.In both
1.60%
9
Tesla Inc.In both
1.60%
10
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
1.40%

Top 10 holdings of IWDA

#HoldingWeight
1
NVIDIAIn both
5.86%
2
APPLEIn both
5.36%
3
MICROSOFTIn both
4.00%
4
AMAZON.COM INCIn both
2.65%
5
ALPHABET CLASS AIn both
2.19%
6
META PLATFORMS CLASS AIn both
1.76%
7
ALPHABET CLASS CIn both
1.73%
8
BROADCOM INCIn both
1.72%
9
MICRON TECHNOLOGYIn both
1.37%
10
TESLA INCIn both
1.12%
Compare every published holding of VUSA and IWDA in the overlap checker

Sectors and countries

Largest sectors of VUSA

  1. Information Technology37.9%
  2. Financials12.3%
  3. Communication Services9.5%
  4. Health Care9.3%
  5. Consumer Discretionary9.1%
  6. Industrials8.3%
+ 4 more

Largest sectors of IWDA

  1. Information Technology32.0%
  2. Financials15.6%
  3. Industrials10.8%
  4. Health Care9.1%
  5. Consumer Discretionary8.3%
  6. Communication8.2%
+ 4 more

Largest countries of VUSA

  1. United States99.9%
  2. United Kingdom0.1%

Largest countries of IWDA

  1. United States73.0%
  2. Japan6.0%
  3. Other5.0%
  4. United Kingdom3.3%
  5. Canada3.3%
  6. France2.2%
+ 4 more

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between VUSA and IWDA?

VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing, IE00B3XXRP09) tracks the S&P 500 index and IWDA (iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, IE00B4L5Y983) the MSCI World index. VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.20% for IWDA, 0.13 percentage points less, or about 13 a year on 10,000 invested. IWDA reinvests its income (accumulating), while VUSA pays it out (distributing). VUSA and IWDA both hold the index securities directly (physical replication). Both are domiciled in Ireland. This is a factual comparison from the fund houses' documents, not investment advice.

Which is cheaper, VUSA or IWDA?

VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.20% for IWDA, 0.13 percentage points less, or about 13 a year on 10,000 invested. Their key information documents state ongoing charges of 0.07% for VUSA and 0.20% for IWDA.

Which is bigger, VUSA or IWDA?

IWDA is the larger fund, with USD 152.1bn in assets against USD 88.97bn for VUSA, about 1.7 times the size.

Do VUSA and IWDA hold the same companies?

9 of the holdings published by VUSA (top 10) and IWDA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA Corp., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc..

How did VUSA and IWDA perform in 2025?

In 2025, VUSA returned +17.6% and IWDA +21.2%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 10 years, VUSA returned +15.0% a year and IWDA +12.9% a year. Over the past year, VUSA returned +15.5% and IWDA +14.6%. Past performance does not predict future returns.

Are VUSA and IWDA accumulating or distributing?

VUSA is distributing: it pays its income out to investors. IWDA is accumulating: it reinvests its income in the fund.

Go further

Other comparisons

Figures are read from the documents each fund house publishes (product page, factsheet, key information document, holdings file) and refreshed weekly. Names and tickers identify the products; FundFacts API is independent of every fund house and index provider. This comparison is factual information, not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell either fund.