CSPX vs IWDA vs VWRA: Which Index ETF Fits Your Portfolio? (2026 Update)

When I first published this comparison in October 2020, it was tempting to look at the fee table and the backtest and declare a winner. But these three ETFs don’t track the same market, and a historical chart can’t tell us which one will do better next.

The fees have changed too. Here’s an updated look at what each fund covers, what it costs, and the kind of investor it may suit.

CSPX vs IWDA vs VWRA at a glance

	CSPX	IWDA	VWRA
Fund	iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF	iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF	Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF
Tracks	S&P 500	MSCI World	FTSE All-World
Annual fund charge	0.07% TER	0.20% TER	0.14% OCF
Approx. annual cost per US$10,000	US$7	US$20	US$14
Income policy	Accumulating	Accumulating	Accumulating

Market coverage compared

Exposure	CSPX	IWDA	VWRA
US companies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Other developed markets	No	Yes	Yes
Emerging markets	No	No	Yes
Company sizes	Large	Large and mid-sized	Large and mid-sized

The fee figures above are the fund charges reported by the providers, checked on 12 October 2026. They don’t include brokerage, platform, currency-conversion or other transaction costs.

These costs are reflected in the fund’s value over time; investors don’t usually receive a separate bill for them.

What does each ETF actually own?

CSPX: a bet on the US market

CSPX tracks the S&P 500, an index of large US companies. It’s the most focused of the three: if US shares do well, that can help CSPX, but the fund doesn’t give you the same geographic spread as a global ETF.

IWDA: developed markets around the world

IWDA tracks the MSCI World Index. It holds companies across developed markets, including the US, Japan and the UK. Despite the word “World,” the index does not include emerging markets.

VWRA: developed and emerging markets in one fund

VWRA tracks the FTSE All-World Index, which includes large and mid-sized companies in both developed and emerging markets. It offers the broadest country coverage of these three choices, though it remains a share-market investment and can fall when global stocks fall.

Country allocation: how much is in each market?

Country	CSPX	IWDA	VWRA
United States	~100%	72.68%	61.7%
Japan	—	5.91%	6.0%
Taiwan	—	—	3.3%
United Kingdom	—	3.39%	3.3%
Canada	—	3.27%	3.0%
China	—	—	2.7%
South Korea	—	—	2.5%
France	—	2.24%	2.0%
Switzerland	—	2.12%	2.0%
Germany	—	2.06%	1.9%
Other / remainder	~0%	8.33%	11.6%

CSPX’s approximately 100% US figure describes its equity-market exposure; small cash or derivative positions can affect the fund’s exact allocation. A dash means the country is outside that fund’s benchmark coverage. “Other / remainder” is calculated as 100% minus the displayed weights and may include cash and rounding differences. Country classifications follow the index providers, rather than where companies earn their revenue. The reporting dates differ, so these are dated snapshots.

A global fund can still have substantial exposure to the US. Owning more countries doesn’t mean every country has an equal share of the portfolio.

Top 10 holdings in each ETF

Weight tells you how much of the fund is invested in a holding. For example, a 5% weight means roughly US$500 out of every US$10,000 invested. Many of the same large companies appear in all three funds.

CSPX

Rank	Holding	Weight
1	NVIDIA	8.37%
2	Apple	7.36%
3	Microsoft	5.77%
4	Amazon	3.70%
5	Alphabet Class A	3.06%
6	Broadcom	2.53%
7	Alphabet Class C	2.45%
8	Meta Platforms	2.42%
9	Micron Technology	1.82%
10	Tesla	1.51%

IWDA

Rank	Holding	Weight
1	NVIDIA	5.79%
2	Apple	5.39%
3	Microsoft	3.99%
4	Amazon	2.66%
5	Alphabet Class A	2.23%
6	Meta Platforms	1.76%
7	Alphabet Class C	1.76%
8	Broadcom	1.75%
9	Micron Technology	1.33%
10	Tesla	1.12%

VWRA

Rank	Holding	Weight
1	NVIDIA	4.8%
2	Apple	4.3%
3	Microsoft	3.5%
4	Alphabet	3.3%
5	Amazon	2.3%
6	Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC)	1.7%
7	Broadcom	1.6%
8	Meta Platforms	1.2%
9	Micron Technology	1.0%
10	Tesla	1.0%

The tables follow each provider’s top 10 list. iShares lists Alphabet Class A and Class C separately; Vanguard groups Alphabet together. They are share classes of the same company, so the lists are not all counts of 10 different companies. Weights and rankings change. Rounded VWRA rows may not add up exactly to the provider’s reported total.

The fee gap has narrowed

CSPX remains the lowest-cost option in this comparison at 0.07%. But VWRA is now cheaper than it was when I first wrote this post: Vanguard reduced its ongoing charge from 0.19% to 0.14% in July 2026.

That puts VWRA’s charge below IWDA’s 0.20%. Still, a lower fee alone doesn’t make one fund the right choice. The more useful question is whether you want US-only exposure, developed markets, or developed and emerging markets together.

What “accumulating” means

All three funds are accumulating share classes. Instead of paying dividends out to investors, the fund retains and reinvests the income.

Accumulating doesn’t mean the underlying dividends are free from fund-level withholding taxes. It describes what the fund does with income it receives; it doesn’t settle an investor’s personal tax treatment.

Which one would I choose?

There isn’t a universal winner:

• CSPX is for someone who specifically wants exposure to large US companies.
• IWDA is for someone who wants developed-market exposure but doesn’t want emerging markets in this fund.
• VWRA is for someone who prefers one fund covering both developed and emerging markets.

There is also overlap between these funds. Adding CSPX to IWDA or VWRA increases your US exposure; it doesn’t simply add a completely separate group of companies.

The choice comes down to the exposure I want to hold and stick with. A lower fee and a strong past return can be useful details, but neither tells me what the next decade will look like.

Fund details checked 12 October 2026. Fees and fund information can change. This article is for general information, not personal investment or tax advice.

Sources: CSPX factsheet (September 2026), IWDA factsheet (September 2026), VWRA factsheet (August 2026), and Vanguard fee change.