Vanguard All-World ETF Breaks Out as Nvidia’s Earnings and Global Rotation Lift It to New Peak

The Vanguard All-World ETF reached €162.98, powered by Nvidia's earnings surge and a rotation into international markets, with year-to-date returns of 11.65%.

The Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF has punched through to a fresh 52-week high, propelled by a rare double dose of momentum from US technology titans and a long-overdue rally in international equity markets. On Monday, the accumulating share class touched €162.98, representing a gain of 1.12% on the day. A separate data point also recorded a level of €162.78, reflecting intraday fluctuations. The year-to-date advance stands at 11.65%, while the 12-month return has swelled to 27.01%.

Nvidia, the fund’s largest single holding at 4.7% of net assets, delivered the immediate spark. The chipmaker reported first-quarter revenue for its fiscal 2027 of $81.6 billion on 20 May, an 85% leap from the prior year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.87, handily beating consensus estimates of $78.8 billion and $1.76. For the current quarter, Nvidia guided to $91 billion in revenue, plus or minus 2%, while also raising its quarterly dividend and authorising an additional $80 billion in share buybacks. The earnings blowout underscores why Nvidia now commands a market capitalisation of $5.3 trillion, the largest among the single-digit club of companies worth over $3 trillion. Alphabet ($4.6 trillion), Apple ($4.3 trillion) and Microsoft ($3 trillion) round out the VWCE’s top four positions.

But the record high is not solely a story of American mega-caps. January 2022 was supposed to mark the peak of US exceptionalism, yet 2025 delivered a twist: the MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed markets outside the United States, surged 31.2% in dollar terms, almost doubling the S&P 500’s 17.9% return. Those ex-US stocks remain comparatively cheap, and the rotation has been a boon for the Vanguard ETF, which allocates roughly 60% to US equities and the remaining 40% to Europe, Asia-Pacific and emerging markets. Emerging markets alone account for about 10.5% of the portfolio, giving the fund exposure to China, Taiwan, India and Brazil – economies that are riding the global growth wave.

The index underlying the ETF, the FTSE All-World, covers approximately 4,200 large and mid-cap companies across 48 developed and emerging countries, representing about 90% of the world’s investable equity market. The US still makes up two-thirds of the index by value, and the technology sector roughly one-quarter. The top ten holdings, led by Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, together account for about a fifth of the total. This concentration has become a talking point: earlier this year, the ten largest US stocks represented almost 40% of the S&P 500 – double the weight in 2010 – while the Magnificent Seven now account for 48% of the index’s market capitalisation.

For holders of the VWCE, the global diversification provides a structural buffer. The ETF’s annualised volatility of 14.2% is noticeably lower than the S&P 500’s 16.8%, a difference that could prove valuable in a downturn. The next scheduled index rebalance in June will reveal whether the tilt towards US tech continues or whether the resurgent non-US markets claw back some share.

On the fund mechanics side, the VWCE tracks its benchmark via physical replication using a sampling approach, holding 3,770 of the 4,264 index constituents. The median market capitalisation of those holdings is $173.5 billion. The ongoing charge of 0.19% per year is competitive, though the Invesco FTSE All-World undercuts it at 0.12%. Total assets under management stand at nearly €39 billion, making it one of Europe’s largest passive vehicles, and the accumulating structure automatically reinvests dividends, boosting the net asset value over time. Morningstar highlights the strategy as broad, representative and cost-efficient.

The fund is listed in multiple currencies – euro, pound sterling, US dollar and Swiss franc – across exchanges in Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich. Its tracking precision is excellent: beta and R² are both 1.00, and the one-year tracking error is a wafer-thin 0.05%. Over three and five years, that figure rises to 0.06% and 0.08% respectively.

With an all-time high in the rearview mirror, the coming months will test whether the VWCE’s diversification thesis holds firm. The combination of US tech firepower and a broadening global recovery has served it well so far, but the next market correction – or a shift in leadership away from the Magnificent Seven – could prove the true measure of a truly global portfolio.