URTH vs SPHQ: which ETF won each year?
Yearly returns side by side, one winner per year — dividends included, priced as you'd actually buy them.
URTHtracks the MSCI World Index
SPHQtracks the S&P 500 Quality Index
URTH tracks the MSCI World IndexSPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality Index
What did the last 10 years do to $10,000?
You invest $10,000 at the start of the window and touch nothing — dividends reinvested, the running year not counted.
URTH vs SPHQ, year by year
Calendar-year total returns (dividends included) side by side, and who took the crown each year. A dash means the fund did not exist yet.
| Year | URTH | SPHQ | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +9.81% | +20.79% | SPHQ |
| 2025 | +21.36% | +13.25% | URTH |
| 2024 | +18.66% | +25.44% | SPHQ |
| 2023 | +23.95% | +24.83% | SPHQ |
| 2022 | -17.97% | -15.76% | SPHQ |
| 2021 | +22.27% | +27.59% | SPHQ |
| 2020 | +15.78% | +16.93% | SPHQ |
| 2019 | +28.15% | +33.63% | SPHQ |
| 2018 | -8.56% | -7.09% | SPHQ |
| 2017 | +22.95% | +19.10% | URTH |
| 2016 | +7.31% | +14.30% | SPHQ |
| 2015 | -0.64% | +1.64% | SPHQ |
| 2014 | +4.37% | +16.08% | SPHQ |
| 2013 | +26.66% | +32.73% | SPHQ |
| 2012 | +14.71% | +14.32% | URTH |
| 2011 | — | +6.28% | — |
| 2010 | — | +20.50% | — |
| 2009 | — | +12.59% | — |
| 2008 | — | -46.35% | — |
| 2007 | — | +16.77% | — |
| 2006 | — | +4.58% | — |
| 2005 | — | -2.05% | — |
URTH vs SPHQ in plain words
URTH tracks the MSCI World Index while SPHQ follows the S&P 500 Quality Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. URTH charges 0.24% a year in running costs and SPHQ charges 0.15% — SPHQ is the cheaper fund to hold.
Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically. Across the 15 calendar years both funds were trading, URTH finished the year ahead 3 times and SPHQ 12 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $32,044 in URTH versus $37,666 in SPHQ by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.
Fund facts: URTH vs SPHQ
| Fact | URTH | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | iShares MSCI World ETF | Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF |
| Tracks | MSCI World Index | S&P 500 Quality Index |
| Yearly cost (TER) | 0.24% | 0.15% |
| Dividends | Distributing — dividends paid out | Distributing — dividends paid out |
| Launched | 10 Jan 2012 | 6 Dec 2005 |
Frequently asked
Is URTH or SPHQ better?
Across the 15 calendar years both funds were trading, URTH finished the year ahead 3 times and SPHQ 12 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $32,044 in URTH versus $37,666 in SPHQ by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested. Past returns don't promise future ones — but this is what actually happened.
What is the difference between URTH and SPHQ?
URTH tracks the MSCI World Index while SPHQ follows the S&P 500 Quality Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. URTH charges 0.24% a year in running costs and SPHQ charges 0.15% — SPHQ is the cheaper fund to hold. Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically.
What would $10,000 in URTH have become?
$10,000 invested in URTH at the start of 2016 grew to $32,044 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 12.4% per year.
Related comparisons
More head-to-heads featuring URTH or SPHQ.