ETF comparison

VUSA vs SWRD

Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing
IE00B3XXRP09Vanguard
State Street® SPDR® MSCI World UCITS ETF (Acc)
IE00BFY0GT14State Street
Figures as of September 30, 2026 (VUSA) · October 2, 2026 (SWRD)

The comparison in short

VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing, IE00B3XXRP09) tracks the S&P 500 index and SWRD (State Street® SPDR® MSCI World UCITS ETF (Acc), IE00BFY0GT14) the MSCI World index. VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.12% for SWRD, 0.05 percentage points less, or about 5 a year on 10,000 invested. VUSA is the larger fund, with USD 88.97bn in assets against USD 22.5bn for SWRD, about 4 times the size. VUSA reports 512 holdings and SWRD 1,241. 9 of the holdings published by VUSA (top 10) and SWRD (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 SWRD +21.2%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 5 years, VUSA returned +13.5% a year and SWRD +12.1% a year. SWRD reinvests its income (accumulating), while VUSA pays it out (distributing). VUSA and SWRD both hold the index securities directly (physical replication). Both are domiciled in Ireland. VUSA and SWRD 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

FigureVUSASWRD
ISINIE00B3XXRP09IE00BFY0GT14
Exchange tickersVUSA, VUSDSWRD, SWLD, SPPW
Fund houseVanguardState Street
Total expense ratio (TER)0.07%0.12%
Ongoing charges (KID)0.07%0.12%
Fund sizeUSD 88.97bnUSD 22.5bn
Launch dateMay 22, 2012February 28, 2019
ReplicationPhysicalPhysical
DomicileIrelandIreland
Distribution policyDistributingAccumulating
Share class currencyUSDUSD
Number of holdings5121,241
Risk indicator (SRRI)4 / 74 / 7
BenchmarkS&P 500 Net Total ReturnMSCI World Index

Performance

Calendar-year returns

YearVUSASWRDDifference
2025+17.6%+21.2%−3.6
2024+24.7%+18.9%+5.8
2023+25.9%+24.0%+1.9
2022−18.3%−17.9%−0.4
2021+28.4%+22.0%+6.4
2020+18.0%+15.8%+2.2

Annualised returns

PeriodVUSASWRDDifference
1 year+15.5%+15.4%+0.1
3 years+22.6%+22.0%+0.6
5 years+13.5%+12.1%+1.4
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 SWRD (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 SWRD

#HoldingWeight
1
NVIDIA CorporationIn both
5.88%
2
Apple Inc.In both
5.38%
3
Microsoft CorporationIn both
4.01%
4
Amazon.com Inc.In both
2.66%
5
Alphabet Inc. Class AIn both
2.20%
6
Meta Platforms Inc Class AIn both
1.76%
7
Alphabet Inc. Class CIn both
1.73%
8
Broadcom Inc.In both
1.72%
9
Micron Technology Inc.In both
1.37%
10
Tesla Inc.In both
1.12%
Compare every published holding of VUSA and SWRD 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 SWRD

  1. Information Technology32.1%
  2. Financials15.6%
  3. Industrials10.8%
  4. Health Care9.1%
  5. Consumer Discretionary8.4%
  6. Communication Services8.2%
+ 5 more

Largest countries of VUSA

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

Largest countries of SWRD

  1. United States73.3%
  2. Japan6.0%
  3. United Kingdom3.4%
  4. Canada3.3%
  5. France2.2%
  6. Switzerland2.1%
+ 4 more

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between VUSA and SWRD?

VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing, IE00B3XXRP09) tracks the S&P 500 index and SWRD (State Street® SPDR® MSCI World UCITS ETF (Acc), IE00BFY0GT14) the MSCI World index. VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.12% for SWRD, 0.05 percentage points less, or about 5 a year on 10,000 invested. SWRD reinvests its income (accumulating), while VUSA pays it out (distributing). VUSA and SWRD 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 SWRD?

VUSA has the lower total expense ratio (TER): 0.07% a year against 0.12% for SWRD, 0.05 percentage points less, or about 5 a year on 10,000 invested. Their key information documents state ongoing charges of 0.07% for VUSA and 0.12% for SWRD.

Which is bigger, VUSA or SWRD?

VUSA is the larger fund, with USD 88.97bn in assets against USD 22.5bn for SWRD, about 4 times the size.

Do VUSA and SWRD hold the same companies?

9 of the holdings published by VUSA (top 10) and SWRD (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 SWRD perform in 2025?

In 2025, VUSA returned +17.6% and SWRD +21.2%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 5 years, VUSA returned +13.5% a year and SWRD +12.1% a year. Over the past year, VUSA returned +15.5% and SWRD +15.4%. Past performance does not predict future returns.

Are VUSA and SWRD accumulating or distributing?

VUSA is distributing: it pays its income out to investors. SWRD 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.