Handpicked Selection of Best Equity ETFs
The Definitive Guide to Equity Index Investing - Best ETFs
This is the ETF selection part of our definitive guide to Equity Index Investing.
For someone who is unfamiliar with ETF benchmarks and criteria, selecting an ETF has become a headache. Comparison websites generally list thousands of ETFs.
Here is where we step in. Investing should be simple. The below selection covers most needs well. While we may have a marginal preference for some ETFs, we list suitable alternatives to account for investors’ tax situations, and preferences.
Let’s dive into the Best Equity ETFs.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- We selected the Best UCITS ETFs from reputable Asset Managers, large enough to reduce closure risk, with established track record, liquid, cheap and widely available.
- The Best Global ETF is Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF, but iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF is a strong challenger.
- The Best Developed Markets ETFs are iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF and HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF.
- The Best S&P 500 ETFs are synthetic funds from Invesco, Xtrackers, Lyxor and Amundi.
- The Best European Equity ETFs are Lyxor Core STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF and Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF.
- The Best Emerging Markets ETF is iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF.
- The Best Socially-Responsible ETFs will also be included. We avoid screening based on ESG Ratings.
- Best non-UCITS ETFs suitable for certain investors that UCITS does not bind are listed as well.
Here is the full analysis
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- Get Rich, Slowly but Surely – We designed Equity ETF selection frameworks and then picked the best funds in each category, so you don’t have to.
- Become a Passive Investing Ninja – Have no mercy for Financial Institutions. Cut TERs, Taxes, FX Fees and Invisible Costs.
- Licence to Yield – Which Bond ETFs for your goals? How do price change? Should you hedge currencies?
- Don’t get fooled by Wall Street – ESG Ratings are not designed to protect the planet. Adjusted for risk, ESG ETFs will also inevitably underperform. So how can you invest Sustainably?
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Beat Most Investors with FREE ETF Master Guides
- Get Rich, Slowly but Surely – We designed Equity ETF selection frameworks and then picked the best funds in each category, so you don’t have to.
- Become a Passive Investing Ninja – Have no mercy for Financial Institutions. Cut TERs, Taxes, FX Fees and Invisible Costs.
- Licence to Yield – Which Bond ETFs for your goals? How do prices change? Should you hedge currencies?
- Don’t get fooled by Wall Street – ESG Ratings are not designed to protect the planet. Adjusted for risk, ESG ETFs will also inevitably underperform. So how can you invest Sustainably?
How we rank ETFs
Our Selection Criteria
- Reputable – Only Established Asset Managers with a preference for Tier 1 players like BlackRock (iShares), Vanguard and State Street (SPDR). Strong performance from local players, including DWS (Xtrackers), Amundi (and Lyxor) or HSBC, justifies consideration.
- Large – A minimum Fund size $200m (unless justified) to reduce the commercial risk of ETF closure. We combine distributing and accumulating share classes.
- Established – Unless justified, a 3-year ETF Performance track record is required.
- Cheap – Tracking Difference is a comprehensive backwards-looking measure. A positive 3-Year Tracking Difference below, from Institutional Data sources, including Bloomberg, reflects outperformance against Net Tax Index. In practice, this outperformance is lower as the most punitive tax treatment is applied to benchmarks, but it helps in the relative ranking of ETFs. TER is a forward-looking measure, but less comprehensive.
- Available and Liquid – All ETFs should be available from some of the most used brokers like Interactive Brokers or DEGIRO. We also monitor industry flows to give preference to funds with high daily volumes.
Our Prioritisation
The below tables list the Top 3-5 Funds. Our prioritisation is based on Portfolio Management experience and is a balancing act between the above overarching and asset-specific criteria. For example, we may override marginal Tracking Difference outperformance with reputation or liquidity considerations.
For instance, we prefer the iShares MSCI World UCITS ETF to the marginally better-performing competitors due to brand, higher liquidity, and the fund being the reference name in its asset class.
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Most coaching participants come from the EU or the UK.
But we have consistent demand from all around the world. We provided coaching sessions to individual investors stretching from Argentina to New Zealand, or Guatemala to Japan.
A significant part of our clients are professionals in the Tech sector, Lawyers or Doctors that want to avoid costly mistakes when investing.
We also coach 25-30 year old young professionals that want to maximise assets for early retirement. We also have a large group of entrepreneurs that e.g. receive large lump sums after selling their company and want to invest it in financial markets. We speak to Crypto millionaires that want to reduce their risks.
Finally, some of our coaching clients are in their 40s or 50s and want to set up customised, income-producing portfolios or create Bond ladders for their retirement.
Most of the coached investors are in the 25–60 year old range.
Yes, some of our coaching clients have shared reviews on Google.
Some considerations are included below. For more details, consult your regulator’s website.
A financial coach is:
- Trained but not regulated
- Skilled at reviewing your overall financial situation and goals
- Able to help you develop a financial plan to achieve those goals
- Happy to discuss the pros and cons of various financial products but can’t recommend a specific one for you
- Comfortable working with anyone, whatever their situation
- Going to charge for their time
A financial adviser is:
- Regulated and authorised by the regulator to recommend specific products to clients or is independent and able to offer ‘whole of market’ solutions
- Often, going to charge an annual management fee, typically 1-2% of their client’s assets with initial fees on top.
We are proud to say that our coaching service has empowered a number of clients to reconsider their financial advisers’ offerings. From our clients’ feedback, in a number of cases, clients were overcharged, and offered unsuitable products, often due to conflicts of interest. However, this is not a rule. The best choice between a financial coach and adviser depends on an individual’s unique circumstances, including their financial literacy, time availability, comfort with managing their finances, and complexity of their financial situation.
Beginners often ask us:
- How do I reach my goals – What investments do I need to take into consideration for e.g. Taking a Sabbatical, buying a House or saving for Early Retirement?
- When should I invest – I fear that investing a lump sum in this market may have a negative impact on my returns. How can timing of buying ETFs affect my performance?
- How do I Invest – What are the pro and cons of investing with a Bank? Why should I diversify brokers?
- What should I consider investing in – What are some risks of portfolio diversifiers like Gold or Crypto?
- Avoiding Extra Costs – I have shortlisted a few ETFs, can you help me to compare them before I decide which one to buy?
- Benchmarking – What are educated investors doing in a similar situation to mine?
We are flexible. For example, answering some of these questions could help you avoid very costly mistakes:
- Challenging My Portfolio – Here is my portfolio – what am I missing? What could derail my strategy?
- Accelerating My Understanding – What are inflation linked Bonds? How are they different to Nominal Bond ETFs? What makes them outperform? Why do some investors add small cap value stocks to their portfolios? I want to exclude Tobacco companies from my portfolio – what are my options? What is Factor Investing?
- Simplifying Portfolio Maintenance – How can I diversify my investments? What is historically highly correlated so that I can consider removing it to keep my portfolio simple? How do I perform rebalancing? Does frequency matter?
- Reducing Risks – I want to understand the risks of investments – what are the different measures and how does it impact me? What are the risks of different types of brokerage accounts?
- Understanding the Impact of Recent Events – How do recent events impact my portfolio? What can I do to protect my savings from shocks?
- Investing Goals – I am investing for a specific goal e.g. Early Retirement, what is the research saying about e.g. the amount I need to have accumulated, how much can I withdraw annually? What are some calculators available and how to run them? What are the assumptions/shortcomings of these models?
- Comparing Equivalent ETFs – I have certain constraints in my tax-wrapper and can only select certain funds (e.g. I live in France and limited to specific synthetic ETFs). Which ETF characteristics should I pay attention to?
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Sometimes individual sessions are very helpful to get past your investing concerns. Our readers asked us to create coaching sessions. And we’re proud to say, that some of them even ditched their Financial Advisors, after experiencing the value we provide.
Most coaching participants come from the EU or the UK.
But we have consistent demand from all around the world. We provided coaching sessions to individual investors stretching from Argentina to New Zealand, or Guatemala to Japan.
A significant part of our clients are professionals in the Tech sector, Lawyers or Doctors that want to avoid costly mistakes when investing.
We also coach 25-30 year old young professionals that want to maximise assets for early retirement. We also have a large group of entrepreneurs that e.g. receive large lump sums after selling their company and want to invest it in financial markets. We speak to Crypto millionaires that want to reduce their risks.
Finally, some of our coaching clients are in their 40s or 50s and want to set up customised, income-producing portfolios or create Bond ladders for their retirement.
Most of the coached investors are in the 25–60 year old range.
Yes, some of our coaching clients have shared reviews on Google.
Some considerations are included below. For more details, consult your regulator’s website.
A financial coach is:
- Trained but not regulated
- Skilled at reviewing your overall financial situation and goals
- Able to help you develop a financial plan to achieve those goals
- Happy to discuss the pros and cons of various financial products but can’t recommend a specific one for you
- Comfortable working with anyone, whatever their situation
- Going to charge for their time
A financial adviser is:
- Regulated and authorised by the regulator to recommend specific products to clients or is independent and able to offer ‘whole of market’ solutions
- Often, going to charge an annual management fee, typically 1-2% of their client’s assets with initial fees on top.
We are proud to say that our coaching service has empowered a number of clients to reconsider their financial advisers’ offerings. From our clients’ feedback, in a number of cases, clients were overcharged, and offered unsuitable products, often due to conflicts of interest. However, this is not a rule. The best choice between a financial coach and adviser depends on an individual’s unique circumstances, including their financial literacy, time availability, comfort with managing their finances, and complexity of their financial situation.
Beginners often ask us:
- How do I reach my goals – What investments do I need to take into consideration for e.g. Taking a Sabbatical, buying a House or saving for Early Retirement?
- When should I invest – I fear that investing a lump sum in this market may have a negative impact on my returns. How can timing of buying ETFs affect my performance?
- How do I Invest – What are the pro and cons of investing with a Bank? Why should I diversify brokers?
- What should I consider investing in – What are some risks of portfolio diversifiers like Gold or Crypto?
- Avoiding Extra Costs – I have shortlisted a few ETFs, can you help me to compare them before I decide which one to buy?
- Benchmarking – What are educated investors doing in a similar situation to mine?
We are flexible. For example, answering some of these questions could help you avoid very costly mistakes:
- Challenging My Portfolio – Here is my portfolio – what am I missing? What could derail my strategy?
- Accelerating My Understanding – What are inflation linked Bonds? How are they different to Nominal Bond ETFs? What makes them outperform? Why do some investors add small cap value stocks to their portfolios? I want to exclude Tobacco companies from my portfolio – what are my options? What is Factor Investing?
- Simplifying Portfolio Maintenance – How can I diversify my investments? What is historically highly correlated so that I can consider removing it to keep my portfolio simple? How do I perform rebalancing? Does frequency matter?
- Reducing Risks – I want to understand the risks of investments – what are the different measures and how does it impact me? What are the risks of different types of brokerage accounts?
- Understanding the Impact of Recent Events – How do recent events impact my portfolio? What can I do to protect my savings from shocks?
- Investing Goals – I am investing for a specific goal e.g. Early Retirement, what is the research saying about e.g. the amount I need to have accumulated, how much can I withdraw annually? What are some calculators available and how to run them? What are the assumptions/shortcomings of these models?
- Comparing Equivalent ETFs – I have certain constraints in my tax-wrapper and can only select certain funds (e.g. I live in France and limited to specific synthetic ETFs). Which ETF characteristics should I pay attention to?
GLOBAL ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- Tax efficient – Irish Domiciled ETFs reduce US Companies’ Dividend Tax from 30% to 15%.
- Simple – For Global exposure, Investors choose physical replication.
Global ETF SELECTION
| Rank | Global(World) ETF | 3Y TD | TER | Acc. | Dist. | Replication | Size | Inception | Domicile | Benchmark | Acc ISIN | Dist ISIN | Rank Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanguard FTSE ALL-World UCITS ETF | 0.0% | 0.22% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 13.9 | 05/2012 | Ireland | FTSE All World Net Total Return Index | IE00BK5BQT80 | IE00B3RBWM25 | Large & Mid Caps |
| 2 | iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF | -0.1% | 0.20% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 6.3 | 10/2011 | Ireland | MSCI All Country World Net Total Return Index | IE00B6R52259 | ✘ | Large & Mid Caps |
| 3 | SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF UCITS ETF | 0.1% | 0.17% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 0.5 | 05/2011 | Ireland | MSCI ACWI IMI Net Total Return Index | IE00B3YLTY66 | ✘ | With Small Caps |
Best Global ETF
Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF
Best Alternative
iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF
The iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF is leading in TER. BlackRock also has the strongest Brand Name among Institutional Investors and the biggest Asset Manager in the World in terms of Assets Under management. Up until 2021, this ETF was the most expensive in terms of TER and didn’t rank that well in terms of Tracking Difference. As of February 2021, the TER decreased from 0.6% to 0.2%. This change is expected to bring Tracking Difference on par with Vanguard.
State Street provides the option of investing in World’s small caps through the SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI UCITS ETF. In Q1 2023, the TER has been lowered from 0.4% to 0.17%. But, you will rely on a correct sampling. SPDR also has an MSCI ACWI ETF, not tracking small caps, but it is much smaller than rivals and has a worse TD.
Developed Markets ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- Tax efficient – The U.S. Markets account for over 65% of the overall exposure, and avoiding a 15% withholding tax by using Synthetic replication could be advantageous in the future.
- Simple – We also provide the best selection for Physical replication.
Developed Markets ETF SELECTION
| Rank | Developed_Markets ETF | 3Y TD | TER | Acc. | Dist. | Replication | Size | Inception | Domicile | Benchmark | Acc ISIN | Dist ISIN | Rank Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.08% | 0.20% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 43.7 | 09/2009 | Ireland | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | IE00B4L5Y983 | ✘ | Physical |
| 1 | HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.22% | 0.15% | ✘ | ✓ | Physical | 4.5 | 12/2010 | Ireland | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | ✘ | IE00B4X9L533 | Physical |
| 2 | Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF | 0.10% | 0.12% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 2.9 | 09/2014 | Ireland | FTSE Developed Net Total Return Index | IE00BK5BQV03 | IE00BKX55T58 | Physical |
| 3 | SPDR MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.14% | 0.12% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 1.9 | 02/2019 | Ireland | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | IE00BFY0GT14 | ✘ | Physical |
| 4 | Xtrackers MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.07% / 0.05%* | 0.19% / 0.12%* | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 9.2 | 07/2014 | Ireland | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | IE00BJ0KDQ92 | IE00BK1PV551 | Physical |
| 1 | Invesco MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.15% | 0.19% | ✓ | ✘ | Synthetic | 3.0 | 04/2009 | Ireland | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | IE00B60SX394 | ✘ | Synthetic |
| 1 | Lyxor MSCI World UCITS ETF (Luxembourg) | 0.14% | 0.20% | ✓ | ✘ | Synthetic | 3.3 | 11/2008 | Luxembourg | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | LU0392494562 | ✘ | Synthetic |
| 2 | Lyxor MSCI World UCITS ETF (France) | 0.06% | 0.30% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 0.2 | 05/2014 | France | MSCI World Total Return Net Index | FR0011869353 | FR0014003IY1 | Synthetic |
Best Developed Markets ETFs
iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF & HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF
Depending on the dividend distribution policy, current leaders are:
- iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (Accumulating) – is investor’s favourite, despite its marginal underperformance due to (i) being managed by BlackRock (ii) the Fund being a reference (x4 larger than its closest competitor) and having (iii) the highest Liquidity (5-10x more flows).
- HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF (Distributing) – is the best-performing fund over the past 3 years and one of the cheapest among the largest ETFs. However, there are good alternatives.
Best Alternatives
Synthetic ETFs from Lyxor or Invesco
- For Accumulating ETFs – Both Lyxor and Invesco Accumulating ETFs are worth considering, as synthetic ETFs are rapidly gaining a performance edge. Amundi ETFs are much smaller and with a worse track record. They may be merged with Lyxor at some point.
- For distributing ETFs – Xtrackers offers a solid alternative and may challenge HSBC in the future, given a lower TER. Synthetic options exist for distributing funds but are domiciled in France, and designed for local investors through PEA tax wrappers.
Vanguard lags behind the leaders, but offers a low TER and the advantage of slightly broader coverage in small caps.
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Emerging Markets ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- Diverse – We prefer the MSCI EM IMI Index, which also includes Small Caps.
- Simple – Synthetic ETFs have not demonstrated any edge, thus physical replication is preferred.
Emerging Markets ETF SELECTION
| Rank | Emerging_Markets ETF | 3Y TD | TER | Acc. | Dist. | Replication | Size | Inception | Domicile | Benchmark | Acc ISIN | Dist ISIN | Rank Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF | -0.01% | 0.18% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 15.4 | 05/2014 | Ireland | MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Net Total Return Index | IE00BKM4GZ66 | IE00BD45KH83 | With Small Caps |
| 2 | Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF | -0.38% | 0.22% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 2.3 | 05/2012 | Ireland | FTSE Emerging Net Total Return Index | IE00BK5BR733 | IE00B3VVMM84 | Large & Mid Caps |
| 3 | Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF | -0.22% | 0.18% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 4.6 | 06/2017 | Ireland | MSCI Emerging Markets Net Total Return Index | IE00BTJRMP35 | IE000GWA2J58 | Large & Mid Caps |
Best Emerging Market ETF
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets IMI UCITS ETF
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets IMI UCITS ETF largely dominates this asset class. The fund is three times larger than its closest competitor, includes small caps (IMI Index), has the performance measured by Tracking Difference and is amongst the cheapest by TER. It is also the most liquid fund.
Best Alternative
Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ET
S&P 500 ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- Tax efficient – By avoiding a 30% tax on US Companies’ dividends, ETFs with Synthetic replication outperform.
- Simple – We also provide the best selection for Physical replication.
S&P 500 ETF SELECTION
| Rank | S&P500_UCITS_FUNDS | 3Y TD | TER | Acc. | Dist. | Replication | Size | Inception | Domicile | Benchmark | Acc ISIN | Dist ISIN | Rank Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.48% | 0.05% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 12.7 | 05/2010 | Ireland | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | IE00B3YCGJ38 | IE00BYML9W36 | Synthetic |
| 2 | Xtrackers S&P 500 Swap UCITS ETF | 0.47% | 0.15% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 6.0 | 03/2010 | Luxembourg | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | LU0490618542 | LU2009147757 | Synthetic |
| 2 | Lyxor S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.45% | 0.09% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 2.0 | 03/2010 | Luxembourg | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | LU1135865084 | LU0496786657 | Synthetic |
| 2 | Amundi S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.48% | 0.15% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 2.8 | 03/2018 | Luxembourg | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | LU1681049018 | LU2391437253 | Synthetic |
| 3 | BNP Paribas Easy S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.44% | 0.15% | ✓ | ✓ | Synthetic | 1.9 | 06/2008 | France | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | FR0011550177 | FR0011550680 | Synthetic |
| 1 | iShares CORE S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.22% | 0.07% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 61.5 | 03/2002 | Ireland | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | IE00B5BMR087 | IE0031442068 | Physical |
| 1 | Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF | 0.23% | 0.07% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 31.8 | 05/2012 | Ireland | S&P 500 Net Total Return Index | IE00BFMXXD54 | IE00B3XXRP09 | Physical |
Best S&P 500 ETF
Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF
Synthetic ETFs dominate this market, and Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF is the largest (over twice the size of its closest competitor) and most liquid synthetic fund.
Best Alternatives
Synthetic ETFs from Xtrackers and Amundi/Lyxor
The difference in performance between runners-up is anecdotal. Also, with the merger of Lyxor and Amundi, the combined assets of these two ETFs will be equivalent to Xtrackers. There is no clarity how these ETFs may be merged, though.
iShares synthetic ETF, not listed in the above table, is much smaller, because BlackRock was opposed to synthetics until recently. Its fund has been quite successful since launch, though. So how should you choose from the list? For similar performance, a tie-breaker may be more comfort around certain operational risks.
iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF remains the largest fund at c. 5x Invesco, but the physical replication implies lower performance.
EUROPEAN EQUITIES ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- Diverse – We prefer STOXX Europe 600 and FTSE Developed Europe Benchmarks.
- Simple – Synthetic ETFs offer no advantage, thus we prefer physical replication.
European Equities ETF SELECTION
| Rank | Developed_Europe ETF | 3Y TD | TER | Acc. | Dist. | Replication | Size | Inception | Domicile | Benchmark | Acc ISIN | Dist ISIN | Rank Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyxor Core STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF | 0.25% | 0.07% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 5.4 | 04/2013 | Luxembourg | STOXX Europe 600 Net Total Return Index | LU0908500753 | ✘ | With Small Caps |
| 2 | Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF | 0.25% | 0.10% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 3.1 | 05/2013 | Ireland | FTSE Developed Europe Net Tax Total Return Index | IE00BK5BQX27 | IE00B945VV12 | With Small Caps |
| 3 | iShares STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF | 0.14% | 0.20% | ✘ | ✓ | Physical | 6.0 | 02/2004 | Germany | STOXX Europe 600 Net Total Return Index | ✘ | DE0002635307 | With Small Caps |
| 4 | Xtrackers STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF | 0.14% | 0.20% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 1.7 | 01/2009 | Luxembourg | STOXX Europe 600 Net Total Return Index | LU0328475792 | ✘ | With Small Caps |
| 1 | iShares Core MSCI Europe UCITS ETF | 0.26% | 0.12% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 11.4 | 07/2007 | Ireland | MSCI Europe Net Total Return Index | IE00B4K48X80 | IE00B1YZSC51 | Large & Mid Caps |
| 2 | Amundi MSCI Europe UCITS ETF | 0.20% | 0.15% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 2.0 | 11/2016 | Luxembourg | MSCI Europe Net Total Return Index | LU1437015735 | LU1737652310 | Large & Mid Caps |
| 3 | Xtrackers MSCI Europe UCITS ETF | 0.17% | 0.12% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 3.3 | 01/2007 | Luxembourg | MSCI Europe Net Total Return Index | LU0274209237 | LU1242369327 | Large & Mid Caps |
| 4 | Lyxor MSCI Europe UCITS ETF | 0.05% | 0.25% | ✓ | ✘ | Physical | 0.8 | 01/2006 | France | MSCI Europe Net Total Return Index | FR0010261198 | ✘ | Large & Mid Caps |
| 1 | iShares Core EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF | 0.44% | 0.10% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 6.8 | 04/2000 | Ireland | EURO STOXX 50 Net Total Return Index | IE00B53L3W79 | IE0008471009 | Only Large Caps |
| 2 | Xtrackers EURO STOXX 50 UCITS ETF | 0.45% | 0.09% | ✓ | ✓ | Physical | 5.3 | 01/2007 | Luxembourg | EURO STOXX 50 Net Total Return Index | LU0380865021 | LU0274211217 | Only Large Caps |
| 5 | Invesco STOXX Europe 600 | 0.00% | 0.19% | ✓ | ✘ | Synthetic | 0.2 | 04/2009 | Ireland | STOXX Europe 600 Net Total Return Index | IE00B60SWW18 | ✘ | With Small Caps |
Best European Equity ETFS
Lyxor Core STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF & Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF
- Lyxor Core STOXX Europe 600 UCITS ETF (Accumulating) – captures the broadest universe of stocks and has one of the highest Tracking Differences for this asset class. It also has the lowest TER. For distributing investors,
- Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF (Distributing) tracks a similar universe with equivalent historical performance.
Best AlternativeS
IShares ETFs
Both ETFs from iShares are some of the largest in their category. The iShares Core MSCI Europe UCITS ETF has the best Tracking Difference for this asset class, but lacks small-caps exposure.
NON-UCITS ETFs
Asset Class Criteria
- Aligned with Market Practice – Unhedged Currency.
- US Regulation Driven – Physical replication and distributing dividends. There are no accumulating ETFs.
NON-UCITS ETF SELECTION
| Exposure | Index | ETF | Ticker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global | FTSE Global All Cap | Vanguard Total World Stock ETF | VT |
| Global | MSCI ACWI IMI | SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF | ACIM |
| Global | MSCI ACWI | iShares MSCI ACWI ETF(ACWI) | ACWI |
| Global ex-US | FTSE Global All Cap ex-US | Vanguard Total International Stock ETF | VXUS |
| Global ex-US | MSCI ACWI IMI ex-US | iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF | IXUS |
| Global ex-US | MSCI ACWI ex-US | iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF | ACWX |
| Developed Markets ex-US | FTSE Developed Markets All Cap | Vanguard Developed Markets ETF | VEA |
| Developed Markets ex-US | FTSE Developed ex US | Schwab International Equity ETF | SCHF |
| Developed Markets ex-North America | MSCI EAFE | iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF | IEFA |
| Emerging Markets | FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap | Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF | VWO |
| Emerging Markets | MSCI Emerging Markets IMI | iShares Core (MSCI IMI) Emerging Markets ETF | IEMG |
| Emerging Markets | MSCI Emerging Markets | iShares Emerging Markets ETF | EEM |
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Next Steps
Not sure which Index to choose? This ETF selection results from our deep dives into different asset classes. Start by having a look at the sections of our definitive guide to Equity Index Investing.
