Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
URTH vs VOX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% to VOX's −5.7%; 7% 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 $6.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Communication Services ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOX costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.8 points; URTH is 1.4 times larger.
| Measure | URTH | VOX |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | −5.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 10.8%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI World Index | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.24% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $8.2bn | $6.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 7% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 27.2% | 71.1% |
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 returnsEach against its own benchmark: URTH against ACWI, Jan 20, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; VOX against FCOM, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
URTH returned more: +421.6% to +288.5%. URTH swung less: 15.6% to 18.1%. URTH fell less at its worst: −32.7% to −46.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | URTH | VOX | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +421.6% | +288.5% | URTH | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.8% | +9.6% | URTH | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +296.2% | +187.5% | URTH | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.6% | 18.1% | URTH | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.9% | 12.5% | URTH | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −32.7% | −46.3% | URTH | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 96.3% | 93.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 96.5% | 99.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.97 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.68 | 0.50 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.97 | 0.73 | URTH | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.109 | 0.078 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.36 | 0.21 | URTH | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | FCOM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | −1.9% a year | URTH not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.79 | −2.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +3.2% | −3.6% to −0.2% | URTH includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.16 | −0.67 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.5% | 3.1% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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 VOX hold 7% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
7% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
URTH and VOX on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
URTH and VOX do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. URTH follows MSCI World Index and VOX follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 7% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 URTH returned +13.1% and VOX −5.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 18.8 points.
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%.
VOX
VOX tracks an index of Communication Services. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −5.7% with distributions reinvested, against −5.9% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 71.1%. It sat 10.8% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, URTH or VOX?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, URTH returned +13.1% and VOX −5.7%.
- Which is cheaper, URTH or VOX?
- VOX is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 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 VOX, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-vox
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). URTH against VOX. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-vox
[URTH against VOX (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/urth-vs-vox)
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