Vanguard intensifies price war with global ETF launch
A new exchange-traded fund (ETF) charges 0.07% for global exposure.
25th August 2026 10:42
by Dave Baxter from interactive investor
Vanguard has intensified the passive price war by launching a global equity tracker that undercuts the competition on fees.
The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap ETF USD Acc GBP (LSE:VALL) comes with an ongoing charge of just 0.07%.
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That makes it cheaper than the HSBC FTSE All-World Index C Acc (BMJJJF9) fund, which previously led the market with a 0.13% yearly fee.
Like the FTSE All-World and MSCI All World Country indices, the FTSE Global All-Cap index that the Vanguard ETF tracks takes some exposure to emerging markets while still being pretty US-heavy.
The US accounted for about 62% of the index at the end of July, with Japan on 5.9%, the UK on 3.2%, Taiwan on 3.1% and China on 2.8%.
The index has exposure to large, mid and small-cap stocks but the former appears to have a dominant presence.
Its top five holdings are NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:TSM) in sixth place.
| The indices have enjoyed very similar performance | |||
| Index | One-year sterling total return to 24/08/26 (%) | Five-year return (%) | 10-year return (%) |
| FTSE All-World | 20.9 | 70.6 | 215.1 |
| FTSE Global All Cap | 21.2 | 71.2 | 222 |
| MSCI All World | 21 | 70.5 | 216.1 |
Source: FE Analytics. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Importantly, the index tends to offer the same returns as the FTSE All-World and MSCI All World Country indices, suggesting the fund might be a good option for investors wanting such exposure for a cheaper price.
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Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.