ETF comparison

IWDA vs VUAA

iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF
IE00B4L5Y983iShares
Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating
IE00BFMXXD54Vanguard
Figures as of October 1, 2026 (IWDA) · September 30, 2026 (VUAA)

The comparison in short

IWDA (iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, IE00B4L5Y983) tracks the MSCI World index and VUAA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating, IE00BFMXXD54) the S&P 500 index. VUAA 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 89,226m for VUAA, about 1.7 times the size. IWDA reports 1,250 holdings and VUAA 512. 9 of the holdings published by IWDA (top 10) and VUAA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA, APPLE, MICROSOFT, ALPHABET CLASS A and AMAZON.COM INC. In 2025, IWDA returned +21.2% and VUAA +17.6%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 5 years, IWDA returned +11.8% a year and VUAA +13.5% a year. IWDA and VUAA both reinvest their income (accumulating share classes). IWDA and VUAA both hold the index securities directly (physical replication). Both are domiciled in Ireland. IWDA and VUAA 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

FigureIWDAVUAA
ISINIE00B4L5Y983IE00BFMXXD54
Exchange tickersIWDA, SWDA, EUNLVUAA, VUAG
Fund houseiSharesVanguard
Total expense ratio (TER)0.20%0.07%
Ongoing charges (KID)0.20%0.07%
Fund sizeUSD 152.1bnUSD 89,226m
Launch dateSeptember 25, 2009May 14, 2019
ReplicationPhysicalPhysical
DomicileIrelandIreland
Distribution policyAccumulatingAccumulating
Share class currencyUSDUSD
Number of holdings1,250512
Risk indicator (SRRI)4 / 74 / 7
SFDR classificationArticle 6—
BenchmarkMSCI World Index (Net)S&P 500 Net Total Return

Performance

Calendar-year returns

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

Annualised returns

PeriodIWDAVUAADifference
1 year+14.6%+15.5%−0.9
3 years+21.6%+22.6%−1.0
5 years+11.8%+13.5%−1.7
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 IWDA (top 10) and VUAA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA, APPLE, MICROSOFT, ALPHABET CLASS A and AMAZON.COM INC.

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%

Top 10 holdings of VUAA

#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%
Compare every published holding of IWDA and VUAA in the overlap checker

Sectors and countries

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 sectors of VUAA

  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 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

Largest countries of VUAA

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between IWDA and VUAA?

IWDA (iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF, IE00B4L5Y983) tracks the MSCI World index and VUAA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating, IE00BFMXXD54) the S&P 500 index. VUAA 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 and VUAA both reinvest their income (accumulating share classes). IWDA and VUAA 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, IWDA or VUAA?

VUAA 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 0.20% for IWDA and 0.07% for VUAA.

Which is bigger, IWDA or VUAA?

IWDA is the larger fund, with USD 152.1bn in assets against USD 89,226m for VUAA, about 1.7 times the size.

Do IWDA and VUAA hold the same companies?

9 of the holdings published by IWDA (top 10) and VUAA (top 10) appear in both lists; measured on those published positions only, the overlap is at least 27.8%. Shared holdings include NVIDIA, APPLE, MICROSOFT, ALPHABET CLASS A and AMAZON.COM INC.

How did IWDA and VUAA perform in 2025?

In 2025, IWDA returned +21.2% and VUAA +17.6%, a gap of 3.6 percentage points. Over 5 years, IWDA returned +11.8% a year and VUAA +13.5% a year. Over the past year, IWDA returned +14.6% and VUAA +15.5%. Past performance does not predict future returns.

Are IWDA and VUAA accumulating or distributing?

IWDA is accumulating: it reinvests its income in the fund. VUAA 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.