VWCE vs IWDA: Which ETF Should You Choose?
Two accumulating, Ireland-domiciled, physically-replicated ETFs. One holds the whole investable world, the other holds 23 developed countries. This guide works through what that actually changes — index scope, cost, concentration, performance — and how to decide between them in under five minutes.
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Developed world vs. the whole world
Domicile, replication method and income treatment are identical between VWCE and IWDA. Cost is close but no longer equal. The difference that drives everything else is the index each fund tracks.
3,782 stocks at 31 July 2026, spanning developed and emerging markets. Includes Taiwan, China, India and Brazil, which MSCI classifies as emerging, and South Korea, which FTSE classifies as developed. One fund, the whole investable world. TER 0.14% per year.
1,281 stocks at 31 July 2026, across 23 developed countries, covering 85% of listed equities in each. Everything MSCI calls emerging is excluded. More concentrated at the top: its ten largest positions are 26.3% of the fund against VWCE’s 24.6%. TER 0.20% per year.
Side-by-side comparison
Figures read from the two issuers’ own factsheets, both dated 31 July 2026. AUM and holdings counts move continuously — verify on the official factsheet before investing.
| Feature | VWCE | IWDA |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Acc | iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) |
| ISIN | IE00BK5BQT80 | IE00B4L5Y983 |
| Tickers | VWCE (Amsterdam, Xetra, Borsa Italiana), VWRA (LSE USD, SIX), VWRP (LSE GBP) | IWDA (Amsterdam, LSE USD), EUNL (Xetra), SWDA (LSE GBP, Borsa Italiana, SIX) |
| Benchmark | FTSE All-World Index | MSCI World Index |
| TER | 0.14% p.a. | 0.20% p.a. |
| Fund domicile | Ireland | Ireland |
| Replication | Physical (optimised sampling) | Physical (optimised sampling) |
| Income treatment | Accumulating | Accumulating |
| Number of holdings | 3,782 | 1,281 |
| Share class assets | $53.4bn | $143.5bn |
| Total fund assets | $79.6bn | $147.7bn |
| Markets MSCI classes as emerging | Included — Taiwan, China, South Korea, India, Brazil | Excluded |
| Provider | Vanguard | BlackRock (iShares) |
VWCE figures from the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating factsheet, data as at 31 July 2026; the 0.14% ongoing charge took effect 28 July 2026. IWDA figures from the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) factsheet, portfolio data as at 31 July 2026. Both funds are physically replicated by optimised sampling, so neither holds every index constituent.
Geographic breakdown
The clearest way to see the difference is to take VWCE’s ten largest markets and ask which of them the MSCI World Index covers. Three do not qualify, and together they are 8.4% of VWCE that IWDA cannot hold at any weight.
| VWCE’s ten largest markets | VWCE weight | In the MSCI World Index? |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 61.6% | Yes |
| Japan | 6.0% | Yes |
| United Kingdom | 3.3% | Yes |
| Taiwan | 3.2% | No — MSCI emerging |
| Canada | 3.0% | Yes |
| China | 2.8% | No — MSCI emerging |
| South Korea | 2.4% | No — MSCI emerging |
| France | 2.1% | Yes |
| Switzerland | 2.0% | Yes |
| Germany | 1.9% | Yes |
VWCE market allocation from the Vanguard factsheet, data as at 31 July 2026. These ten markets are 88.3% of the fund; the remainder is spread across smaller markets Vanguard does not itemise on the factsheet. MSCI classifies Taiwan, China and South Korea as emerging markets, so none of the three is in the MSCI World Index and none is held by IWDA. FTSE Russell classifies South Korea as developed and Taiwan as advanced emerging, and includes both in the FTSE All-World Index.
Top 10 holdings: same names, different weights
Both lists are dominated by the same US mega-caps, but they are not the same list, and the concentration runs the opposite way to what most people assume. IWDA’s ten largest positions are 26.3% of the fund against VWCE’s 24.6%. Excluding emerging markets does not dilute the top of the portfolio, it thickens it. If you want the security-level overlap between the two funds rather than just the top of each, ETF Overlap Tool publishes a free checker that handles UCITS funds and updates daily.
| VWCE top 10 | Weight | IWDA top 10 | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA | 4.5% | NVIDIA | 5.16% |
| Apple | 4.3% | Apple | 5.05% |
| Alphabet | 3.6% | Microsoft | 3.65% |
| Microsoft | 3.3% | Amazon | 2.93% |
| Amazon | 2.5% | Alphabet Class A | 2.31% |
| TSMC | 1.7% | Broadcom | 1.95% |
| Broadcom | 1.7% | Alphabet Class C | 1.84% |
| Meta | 1.2% | Meta | 1.36% |
| Samsung Electronics | 0.9% | JPMorgan Chase | 1.05% |
| JPMorgan Chase | 0.9% | Micron Technology | 1.03% |
| Top 10 total | 24.6% | Top 10 total | 26.33% |
Both lists as published on the issuers’ own factsheets, data as at 31 July 2026. Each fund’s holdings are shown in its own published order — they are not paired rows. Vanguard rounds to one decimal place and reports Alphabet as a single line; iShares rounds to two and splits Class A from Class C. TSMC and Samsung Electronics are Taiwanese and South Korean respectively, both outside the MSCI World Index, so neither is held by IWDA at any weight. Holdings change without notice.
What history actually shows
Over the five years to 31 July 2026, IWDA returned 11.26% a year against VWCE’s 10.84% — both NAV, in USD, net of fees. Over the three years to the same date the order flips: VWCE 18.27% against IWDA 18.18%. Neither gap is large, and which fund is ahead depends entirely on where you start the clock.
- Heavier at the top: 26.3% in its ten largest positions against VWCE’s 24.6%
- Larger individual weights in the names that drove the period — NVIDIA 5.16% against 4.5%, Apple 5.05% against 4.3%
- Nothing in Taiwan, China or South Korea to dilute that
- The same concentration works in reverse when the largest developed-market names lag
- VWCE holds 8.4% in Taiwan, China and South Korea that IWDA cannot hold at any weight, and that sleeve moves on its own schedule
- Two windows on the same pair of funds disagree, which is itself the useful finding
Total cost of ownership
The sticker-price TER is only part of the picture. For European investors, what matters is the all-in cost: fund expense + broker trading costs + any FX conversion. Neither fund has a structural advantage on fund-level tax treatment — both are Ireland-domiciled and benefit from the same US-Ireland tax treaty (15% US dividend withholding tax).
| Cost layer | VWCE | IWDA |
|---|---|---|
| TER (fund expense) | 0.14% | 0.20% |
| US dividend withholding tax | 15% (Ireland treaty) | 15% (Ireland treaty) |
| Rebalancing friction | Zero (automatic) | Manual if paired with EMIM |
| Two-fund blended TER (IWDA 90% + EMIM 10%) | N/A | 0.198% |
At typical European brokers the two ETFs cost much the same to hold. On Trade Republic, the €1 settlement flat rate does not apply to savings plans. On Scalable Capital, savings plan execution is priced at €0 per plan from €1, and every ETF available on the Broker is savings-plan eligible. On DEGIRO, the ETF Core Selection covers everything listed on Tradegate Exchange — over 1,000 products — at €0.00 commission plus the €1.00 handling fee, so €1.00 all-in per trade, with no exchange connectivity fee. DEGIRO publishes no product list, so check whether a specific ETF qualifies using the platform’s “Commission type: Core Selection” filter. DEGIRO’s own note applies: currency or external product and spread costs may apply. Confirm with your broker that the specific fund is offered before committing.
Replicating VWCE with IWDA + EMIM
Some investors use IWDA as a developed-markets core and add iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF (EMIM, IE00BKM4GZ66) to approximate VWCE’s all-world coverage. Here is what that looks like in practice.
IWDA / EMIM by market-cap weight. Rebalance annually or when drift exceeds ~5%.
IWDA 0.20% x 90% plus EMIM 0.18% x 10%. Higher than VWCE’s 0.14%, not lower.
Every contribution requires two separate buy orders plus periodic rebalancing decisions.
The two-fund route is worth considering only if: (a) you want to deliberately underweight or overweight emerging markets relative to their free-float cap weight, or (b) your broker prices one of the two ETFs more cheaply than the other by enough to offset both the higher blended fund cost and the second trade.
For most monthly investors running a straightforward savings plan, the operational simplicity of a single VWCE position is the correct default. Since 28 July 2026 VWCE’s 0.14% has also been below the blended IWDA plus EMIM cost of 0.198%, so the simpler route is now the cheaper one as well — about €58 a year on a €100,000 portfolio, where the two used to be effectively level.
Which ETF should you choose?
There is no universally correct answer. The decision reduces to one core question: do you want automatic exposure to emerging markets at market-cap weight, or not?
- Want a single-fund, set-and-forget global portfolio
- Are comfortable holding Taiwan, China, South Korea, India and Brazil at whatever weight the index assigns them
- Run a monthly savings plan and want zero rebalancing decisions
- Believe long-run economic growth in Asia, Latin America, and Africa should be in your portfolio
- Want the cheaper option on stated cost: 0.14% against 0.20%, and against 0.198% for the two-fund alternative
- Want developed-markets-only exposure, with no Taiwan, China, South Korea, India or Brazil
- Plan to add emerging markets separately at a weight you choose rather than the index’s
- Are in a tax regime where each ETF position is taxed separately and consolidating to one fund has no advantage
- Prefer the larger fund: $143.5bn in the share class against VWCE’s $53.4bn
- Are building a more granular multi-fund portfolio and want precise regional control
Now compare the brokers that carry VWCE and IWDA
Once you have picked your ETF, the broker matters. See fee breakdowns, real-cost scenarios, and our recommendations for European investors.
Go deeper
Common questions
What is the main difference between VWCE and IWDA?
The core difference is index scope. VWCE tracks the FTSE All-World Index and held 3,782 stocks across developed and emerging markets at 31 July 2026. IWDA tracks the MSCI World Index and held 1,281 stocks across 23 developed countries only. Everything else (Ireland domicile, physical replication, accumulating income treatment) is essentially the same.
Does IWDA include emerging markets?
No. IWDA tracks the MSCI World Index, which covers 23 developed countries only. MSCI classifies Taiwan, China, South Korea, India and Brazil as emerging markets, so none of them appears in IWDA. Note that FTSE Russell disagrees on South Korea and classifies it as developed, which is why South Korea sits inside VWCE at 2.4%. If you want emerging markets exposure alongside IWDA you need a separate fund such as iShares Core MSCI EM IMI (EMIM, IE00BKM4GZ66).
Which ETF has the lower TER — VWCE or IWDA?
VWCE has the lower TER, at 0.14% per year (effective 28 July 2026), versus IWDA’s 0.20% per year. The gap is 0.06 percentage points, or around €6 per year on a €10,000 portfolio. If you replicate VWCE’s coverage by pairing IWDA with EMIM at a 90/10 split, the blended cost works out at roughly 0.20% per year, which is higher than VWCE on its own, not lower. Always verify the current figure on the official fund factsheet before investing.
Has VWCE or IWDA performed better historically?
It depends on the window. Over the five years to 31 July 2026 IWDA returned 11.26% a year and VWCE 10.84%, both NAV in USD net of fees. Over the three years to the same date the order reverses: VWCE 18.27% against IWDA 18.18%. The five-year gap reflects the MSCI World Index excluding emerging markets during a period when developed-market technology led global returns. Past performance does not predict future results.
Can I replicate VWCE using IWDA and another ETF?
Approximately. The common approach is IWDA (developed markets) plus iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF (EMIM, IE00BKM4GZ66) in roughly a 90/10 split by market cap. It is not an exact replication, because FTSE and MSCI classify South Korea differently, so the two routes hold Korean equities in different sleeves. The trade-off is operational: you must rebalance the two positions over time, and each rebalancing transaction incurs broker fees and potential tax events.
Which ETF is better for a monthly savings plan in Europe?
For a regular monthly savings plan (Sparplan), VWCE is generally the more practical choice for most European investors. You buy one ETF, dividends are reinvested automatically via accumulation, and there are no rebalancing decisions. On Scalable Capital every ETF available on the Broker is eligible for a savings plan, priced at €0 per plan from €1. On Trade Republic the €1 settlement flat rate does not apply to savings plans. Check the specific fund is offered by your broker before committing.
Are there distributing versions of VWCE and IWDA?
Yes, but be careful with tickers. VWRP and VWRA are not distributing funds — they are the GBP and USD trading lines of the same accumulating share class as VWCE, ISIN IE00BK5BQT80. The distributing share class is a separate fund, ISIN IE00B3RBWM25, trading as VWRL and VWRD. For IWDA the distributing equivalent is IWRD. Accumulating share classes reinvest dividends inside the fund with no cash payout, which avoids the need to manually reinvest distributions.
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Nothing on this page is an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security. VWCE figures are read from the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating factsheet, data as at 31 July 2026. IWDA figures are read from the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) factsheet, portfolio data as at 31 July 2026. Exchange listings for both funds are from the issuers’ own listings tables. EMIM’s 0.18% is the published ongoing charge for ISIN IE00BKM4GZ66. Broker pricing is taken from Trade Republic, Scalable Capital and DEGIRO’s own published fee schedules. All figures are subject to change — verify on the official documents before investing. Investments can lose value and past performance does not guarantee future results. You are responsible for your own investment, tax, and legal decisions.