In short: VWCE follows the FTSE All-World index, which includes emerging markets such as China, India and Taiwan. IWDA follows the MSCI World index, which covers developed countries only. VWCE costs 0.14% a year and IWDA 0.20%. Both reinvest dividends and both are Irish UCITS funds.
VWCE and IWDA are two of the most searched ETF tickers in Europe. They look alike: both spread your money over more than a thousand companies worldwide, both reinvest dividends, and both are cheap compared with most actively managed funds. The differences sit in which countries they cover, how much they cost, and how heavily they lean on the United States. This page puts those facts side by side. It does not pick a winner, because that depends on what you want to own.
The two funds at a glance
| VWCE | IWDA | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating | iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) |
| ISIN | IE00BK5BQT80 | IE00B4L5Y983 |
| Index | FTSE All-World | MSCI World |
| Emerging markets | Included | Not included |
| Yearly cost (TER) | 0.14% | 0.20% |
| Dividends | Reinvested (accumulating) | Reinvested (accumulating) |
| Companies held | 3,821 (index: 4,203) | about 1,250 (index: 1,249) |
| Share in US companies | about 60% | about 70% |
| How it tracks | Physical, sampling | Physical, sampling |
| Fund home | Ireland | Ireland |
| Since | July 2019 | September 2009 |
| Ticker (EUR) | VWCE | IWDA |
Difference 1: emerging markets
This is the main difference. The MSCI World index behind IWDA covers 23 developed countries, such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Countries like China, India, Taiwan and Brazil are not in it. The FTSE All-World index behind VWCE covers both developed and emerging markets, in more than 45 countries. Emerging markets make up roughly a tenth of it.
That is also why VWCE holds about three times as many companies. Most of the extra names are smaller companies in emerging markets, so the effect on the total is smaller than the count suggests.
Difference 2: the yearly cost
VWCE has a TER of 0.14% a year and IWDA 0.20%. The fund takes this from its assets; you never see a bill. The gap is 0.06 percentage points. On €10,000 that is about €6 a year, and the gap grows as your balance grows. You can see the long-term effect of cost differences in the ETF calculator.
The TER is not the whole cost. What a fund really lags its index by is its tracking difference, and your broker’s order fees and the spread come on top. Check those for the exchange you buy on.
Difference 3: how much is the United States
Both indexes weight companies by their stock market value, so large US companies dominate both. In IWDA the US share was about 70% on 31 August 2026, and in VWCE about 60%. With VWCE more of your money sits outside the US, mainly because of the emerging markets. Neither fund is “a bit of everything in equal parts”.
What is the same
- Dividends are reinvested. Both are accumulating share classes. If you want payouts instead, VWRL (Vanguard) and IWDD (iShares) are the distributing versions. See accumulating vs distributing.
- Irish UCITS funds. Both are based in Ireland and follow the EU UCITS rules for funds sold to private investors.
- Large and mid-sized companies only. Neither index includes small companies (small caps).
- Currency risk. Both hold mostly non-euro shares. If the dollar falls against the euro, your value in euros falls with it, and the other way round.
How to choose without guessing
The choice comes down to one question: do you want emerging markets in the fund or not? If yes, a FTSE All-World fund such as VWCE covers them in one product. If you prefer developed markets only, an MSCI World fund such as IWDA does that. Some investors hold an MSCI World fund plus a separate emerging-markets fund, which gives a similar spread in two parts. Past returns of one index over the other say little about the next twenty years, so they are a weak reason to choose.
Holding both VWCE and IWDA adds little: most of the money in both goes to the same large companies.
Investing involves risk: you can lose money. This page explains facts and is not personal advice. Past results do not predict future results.
Frequently asked questions
Is VWCE the same as VWRL?
They are two share classes of the same fund. VWCE reinvests dividends; VWRL pays them out four times a year. See VWCE vs VWRL.
Why is IWDA called EUNL on some exchanges?
One fund can trade on several exchanges under different tickers. IWDA is the ticker on Euronext Amsterdam; on XETRA the same fund (same ISIN, IE00B4L5Y983) trades as EUNL. The ISIN is the reliable way to check you have the right fund.
Does VWCE include small companies?
No. The FTSE All-World covers large and mid-sized companies. FTSE tracks small caps in separate indexes.
Related pages
- MSCI World vs FTSE All-World vs S&P 500: the three indexes in detail
- FTSE All-World ETFs and MSCI World ETFs
- CSPX vs VUAA: two S&P 500 funds compared
- ETF costs tool: what a TER difference adds up to
Sources
- Vanguard: Key Information Document and product page, FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating, holdings as at 30 September 2026.
- BlackRock: product page, iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc).
- MSCI: MSCI World Index factsheet, 30 September 2026. FTSE Russell: FTSE All-World factsheet.
- justETF fund profiles (listings and country weights, 31 August 2026), read 24 October 2026.