Originave

VUAA vs VGWD: which ETF won each year?

Yearly returns side by side, one winner per year — dividends included, priced as you'd actually buy them.

Every figure here is in euros — what you'd actually pocket buying on Xetra. Fund fact sheets usually headline returns in US dollars, which can look very different: in 2025 a world tracker rose about 23% in dollars but only about 9% in euros, because the euro gained roughly 13% against the dollar. Here's the full story, year by year.

Fund A
Vanguard logoVUAA
Fund B
Vanguard logoVGWD

VUAA tracks the S&P 500 IndexVGWD tracks the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index

What did the last 5 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. Both funds are measured over the same 5 full years (2021–2025) — the longest stretch both were trading.

VUAA turned it into
€20,655
+15.61% per year on average · 2021–2025
VGWD turned it into
€17,989
+12.46% per year on average · 2021–2025
Difference
+€2,666
VUAA made more of the same money

VUAA vs VGWD, 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.

Years compared
6
where both funds were trading
VUAA won
3
years
VGWD won
3
years
YearVUAAVGWDWinner
2026 (so far)+12.01%+14.44%VGWD
2025+4.28%+13.16%VGWD
2024+33.65%+15.75%VUAA
2023+22.10%+7.29%VUAA
2022-14.58%+0.08%VGWD
2021+42.09%+27.90%VUAA
2020—-9.60%—
2019—+25.03%—
2018—-8.03%—
2017—+0.41%—

VUAA vs VGWD in plain words

VUAA tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGWD follows the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. VUAA charges 0.07% a year in running costs and VGWD charges 0.29% — VUAA is the cheaper fund to hold.

VUAA reinvests its dividends automatically (accumulating), while VGWD pays them out as cash (distributing). Across the 6 calendar years both funds were trading, VUAA finished the year ahead 3 times and VGWD 3 times. €10,000 invested at the start of 2021 was worth €20,655 in VUAA versus €17,989 in VGWD by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.

VUAA also trades in USD on the London Stock Exchange, where VUAG is its GBP line, ISIN IE00BFMXXD54 — VUSA is its distributing sibling. This page follows the EUR line.

VHYL is the London (GBP) listing of the same fund, ISIN IE00B8GKDB10 — VGWD is its EUR line on Xetra.

Fund facts: VUAA vs VGWD

FactVUAAVGWD
FundVanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF (Dist)
TracksS&P 500 IndexFTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index
Yearly cost (TER)0.07%0.29%
DividendsAccumulating — dividends reinvestedDistributing — dividends paid out
Launched14 May 201921 May 2013
ISINIE00BFMXXD54IE00B8GKDB10
WKNA2PFN2A1T8FV

Frequently asked

Is VUAA or VGWD better?

Across the 6 calendar years both funds were trading, VUAA finished the year ahead 3 times and VGWD 3 times. €10,000 invested at the start of 2021 was worth €20,655 in VUAA versus €17,989 in VGWD 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 VUAA and VGWD?

VUAA tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGWD follows the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. VUAA charges 0.07% a year in running costs and VGWD charges 0.29% — VUAA is the cheaper fund to hold. VUAA reinvests its dividends automatically (accumulating), while VGWD pays them out as cash (distributing).

What would €10,000 in VUAA have become?

€10,000 invested in VUAA at the start of 2021 grew to €20,655 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 15.6% per year.

Related comparisons

More head-to-heads featuring VUAA or VGWD.

SXR8vsVUAAVUAAvsSPYLVUAAvsSPYYVUAAvsSPYIVUAAvsVWCEVUAAvsWEBNVUAAvsEUNLVUAAvsIUSQ