Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
URTH vs VEU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% to VEU's +14.4%; 26% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $8.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI World ETF, and $68.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE All World Ex US ETF.
Pair scorecard
VEU costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.3 points; VEU is 8.3 times larger.
| Measure | URTH | VEU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | +14.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Sep 4, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI World Index | FTSE All-World ex US Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.24% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $8.2bn | $68.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 26% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 27.2% | 15.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jan 20, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 770 weekly returnsURTH returned more: +421.6% to +196.0%. URTH and VEU swung about the same: 15.6% and 15.7%. URTH fell slightly less at its worst: −32.7% to −33.9%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | URTH | VEU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +421.6% | +196.0% | URTH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.8% | +7.6% | URTH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +296.2% | +92.1% | URTH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.6% | 15.7% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.9% | 11.1% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −32.7% | −33.9% | URTH (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.68 | 0.44 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.97 | 0.61 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.36 | 0.22 | URTH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 770 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, URTH and VEU hold 26% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
26% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
URTH and VEU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
URTH and VEU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. URTH follows MSCI World Index and VEU follows FTSE All-World ex US Index.
- Holdings in common. 26% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- Number of holdings. URTH holds 1,254 positions and VEU holds 3816.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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URTH
URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.
VEU
VEU tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,816 positions, with the top ten at 15.2%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, URTH or VEU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and VEU +14.4%.
- Which is cheaper, URTH or VEU?
- VEU is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, URTH against VEU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-veu
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). URTH against VEU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-veu
[URTH against VEU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-veu)
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