Substitute for VT

[PrinsKheldar]

Hey,

I'm living in Europe and as of very recently my options in Vanguard ETFs have become very limited (MiFID II regulations etc)...

I can no longer buy the US-based Vanguard total world stock index fund ETF. However, it seems like the Ireland-based Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VGWL) still will be available to me.

I am saving 80% of monthly income and have my emergency fund all set since long. My currently invested stash will remain in a european low-cost world-index fund, but I am now looking for a Vanguard alternative for all my future investments.

How do you think that  Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VGWL) will work as substitute for the "real deal"?

Pro's n con's?

[Quinn]

Both are very similar. The two main differences imo are the following:

Underlying index:
VT: FTSE Global All Cap (Large, mid, and small caps)
VGWL: FTSE All-World (Large and mid-caps, cover 90-95% of investable market cap)

Expense ratio:
VT: 0.11%
VGWL: 0.25%

Missing out on small caps probably won't affect returns too much in the long run (I could be wrong), but the increased in expense ratio for VGWL is kind of a bummer.

[Tyler]

Agreed.  Both are very similar.

Also, if you're in Europe then I would recommend searching JustETF.com for other options.  There are many good non-Vanguard index fund providers following the same (or very similar) index, and depending on your home country and brokerage options you might be able to find a nice fund from someone else.

[PrinsKheldar]

Both are very similar. The two main differences imo are the following:

Underlying index:
VT: FTSE Global All Cap (Large, mid, and small caps)
VGWL: FTSE All-World (Large and mid-caps, cover 90-95% of investable market cap)

Expense ratio:
VT: 0.11%
VGWL: 0.25%

Missing out on small caps probably won't affect returns too much in the long run (I could be wrong), but the increased in expense ratio for VGWL is kind of a bummer.

Yes,  the increased expense ratio is really annoying! But I am having trouble finding something lower though, even looking beyond Vanguard Ireland. Also some of the bigger mutual funds here (EU) have a nasty habit of declaring low annual fees but then add a clause (hard to spot at first glance) where they have the right to take an even higher fee if they want whenever you buy or sell shares (often up to as much as another 2%)... And yes, they actually phrase it; if they want. Those kind of things makes me want to turn to Vanguard even more, even though Vanguard Ireland is somewhat more expensive than the US-Vanguard.

Agreed.  Both are very similar.

Also, if you're in Europe then I would recommend searching JustETF.com for other options.  There are many good non-Vanguard index fund providers following the same (or very similar) index, and depending on your home country and brokerage options you might be able to find a nice fund from someone else.

Thank you for this tip, I will surely look into this web site. Hopefully there is some gems out there that I have overlooked! =)