Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF: Am I Switching?

New ETF & what it tracks

• Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF launched in Europe (UCITS).
• Tracks an FTSE index covering 10,000+ stocks across developed + emerging markets, including many small-cap names.
• Approximate index coverage comparison (varies by methodology/time):
  • FTSE All World: ~4,300 stocks
  • FTSE Global All Cap: 10,100+ stocks (~2.5x as many)

Weighting nuance (small caps add breadth, less weight)

• Small caps increase breadth but contribute relatively little weight.
• FTSE notes ~9.7% more market cap in Global All Cap vs All World.
• Within the Global All Cap index:
  • ~91% is large+mid caps already present in FTSE All World
  • Additional small caps are ~9%

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Fee / cost comparison (explicit numbers)

Expense ratios

• Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF: 0.07% per year
• Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF: 0.14% per year

Example cost impact

• Portfolio €100,000:
  • Annual costs ~€140 (0.14%)
  • vs ~€70 (0.07%)

Hypothetical growth impact (simplified)

• Over 2005–2025 (21 years), ignoring taxes, trading costs, tracking differences, and fee changes:
  • $10,000 → about $59,147 with 0.07%
  • vs about $58,605 with 0.14%
• Fee advantage ≈ $542 over 21 years.

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Historical return analysis (FTSE, then MSCI)

Method described

• Compare 21 years of FTSE gross total returns in USD (2005–2025) for:
  • FTSE Global All-Cap
  • FTSE All-World

FTSE results (2005–2025)

• Global All-Cap: ~8.91%/yr
• All-World: ~8.94%/yr
• Difference: ~0.03 percentage points (near tie)

Sub-periods (FTSE)

• 2005–2013:
  • Global All-Cap ~7.3%
  • All-World ~7.03%
• 2014–2025:
  • All-World ~10.37%
  • Global All-Cap ~10.13%

Drawdown observations

• 2008 Great Financial Crisis:
  • Global All-Cap fell 42.2%
  • All-World fell 41.8%
• 2018 and 2022:
  • Global All-Cap dropped a bit more (consistent with smaller-company volatility)

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MSCI cross-check (longer window)

Method (official data)

• Equivalent MSCI comparisons using 2000–2025:
  • MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (broader incl. more small caps)
  • Regular MSCI All Country World

Results (2000–2025)

• Investable Market Index: ~6.87%/yr
• Regular All Country World: ~6.73%/yr

Sub-periods (MSCI)

• 2000–2013:
  • broader ~4.15%
  • regular ~3.69%
• 2014–2025:
  • regular ~10.39%
  • broader ~10.13%

Takeaway (as stated by the speaker)

• No consistent “small caps always win” edge—outperformance depends heavily on the period and index family.

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Key investing conclusions / recommendations & cautions

Main conclusion

Including thousands of small-cap stocks does not guarantee higher long-term returns.

Strongest argument for the All Cap approach (speaker’s view)

• Better representation of the investable global stock market without needing to forecast small-cap outperformance.

“Not switching” (right now)

• The speaker and their wife are not planning to change their current global ETF holdings immediately because:
  • the fund just launched (needs time to prove tracking/real-world performance)
  • their current fund has been performing well vs its benchmark over the past 3 years
• If they did change:
  • they would redirect only future monthly contributions
  • they would not sell existing positions (to avoid crystallizing capital gains and taxes)

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Practical fund implementation details & risks (trading mechanics)

Tickers / share classes mentioned (euro trading)

• VEA / VGLA (accumulating version)
• VLD / VGLD (distributing version)

Liquidity / spread caution

• The fund size is still very small (as of end of August), so liquidity is limited.
• Spread observed about 4x wider than Vanguard FTSE All-World at a specific time (noted: Thu 10:33 a.m. via Gettex).

Order type recommendation

• Prefer limit orders over market orders to avoid unfavorable execution early in the fund’s life.

Recurring investment caution

• Some brokers execute recurring investments as a single larger market order, which can lead to a higher purchase price (depends on broker).

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Competitive landscape (other ~0.07% global ETFs mentioned)

Other UCITS ETFs with 0.07% mentioned:

• Xtrackers FTSE All-World: 0.07%

• Amundi Prime All Country World (covering a selective Global Large & Mid Cap index): 0.07%

• Speaker note: this is framed as a major shift vs a prior “high fee” environment in Europe.

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Disclosures / disclaimers

• Explicit disclaimer: “Nothing I mentioned today was meant as investment advice.”
• The speaker states it’s personal opinion based on their investing experience.

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Methodology / framework explicitly used

• Compare historical index performance using:
  • 21 calendar years of FTSE gross total returns (USD): 2005–2025
  • 26-year MSCI comparison (USD) using official data: 2000–2025
• Evaluate differences by:
  • full-period compounded returns
  • sub-period splits (2005–2013, 2014–2025)
  • drawdowns (notably 2008, plus 2018 and 2022)
• Cost framework:
  • compare expense ratios
  • add estimated internal transaction costs (from each fund’s key information document) to estimate “total internal fund fees”
  • tracking difference (index vs ETF returns) requires 1–2 years post-launch to judge properly

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Key presenter / source(s)

• Angelo (speaker)
  • Investing in low-cost global ETFs with his wife
  • References: Vanguard, index providers (FTSE/MCSI/Solactive), and market data source Gettex.

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Tickers / assets / instruments mentioned

• Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap ETF (tickers by share class):
  • VEA, VGLA, VLD, VGLD
• Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF
  • Used as benchmark/fee comparator (ticker not explicitly stated)
• Invesco global ETF (speaker’s current holding; ticker not provided)
• Xtrackers FTSE All-World ETF: 0.07%
• Amundi Prime All Country World ETF: 0.07%
• Indexes:
  • FTSE All World
  • FTSE Global All Cap
  • MSCI All Country World
  • MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index
  • Solactive Global Large and Mid Cap (index used by an Amundi product referenced)