Vanguard FTSE All-World Tests Record High as Amundi Launches GDP-Weighted Rival on Xetra

Vanguard’s FTSE All-World ETF nears 52-week high amid tech rally, while Amundi launches a GDP-weighted rival to reduce US concentration.

The Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF is trading within a whisker of its 52-week peak, driven by the same tech-led global rally that has propelled it 11.43% higher since the start of the year. Yet just as the fund brushes against new highs, a direct competitor has stepped onto the same trading floor — and it takes a fundamentally different view of how the world’s equities should be weighted.

Deutsche Börse listed the Amundi FTSE All World GDP-Weighted UCITS ETF on 26 May under the ticker WGDP. Both products track the same broad FTSE All-World index, covering roughly 90% of global stock market capitalisation across 48 countries. The divergence lies in methodology: while Vanguard weights countries by market capitalisation, Amundi uses gross domestic product. The effect is to shift exposure away from the outsized influence of US technology giants and towards economies such as China, Germany and Japan, whose stock markets are smaller relative to their economic output.

At the close on Tuesday, the Vanguard fund’s accumulating share class settled at €162.66, a mere 0.20% below its recent peak of €162.98. The 200?day moving average sits at €146.18, a full 11.27% lower, underlining the strength of the current uptrend. Over the past month the ETF has added 5.62%, and on a total-return basis it has delivered 30.80% over the last twelve months after costs.

The fund’s composition explains much of its momentum. Information technology accounts for 32.5% of sector weight, with NVIDIA representing 4.7% of the portfolio — the single largest holding. Alphabet and Apple follow at 4.0% and 3.9% respectively, while the top ten positions together make up roughly a quarter of assets. The US alone contributes about two-thirds of the index. That concentration has served investors well during the recent technology rally, but it also exposes them to a lopsided geographic tilt that the GDP?weighted alternative aims to correct.

Cost adds another layer to the choice. Vanguard charges 0.19% per year in ongoing charges, while the new Amundi product comes in at 0.30%. The gap is modest but meaningful for long?term savers. Vanguard also brings sheer scale: its accumulating share class held $41.8 billion in assets at the end of April, with the total fund sitting at nearly $66 billion. Established liquidity and tight tracking are natural advantages for the incumbent.

The broader index backdrop has been supportive. A global equity rally, reinforced by solid corporate earnings and a recovery in Asia-Pacific stocks after the March energy shock in the Middle East, has lifted all boats. Dollar weakness and cheaper valuations in emerging markets have added further tailwinds. Over three years the Vanguard fund has returned an annualised 19.76%; over five years that figure stands at 10.64%.

Morningstar’s analysts give the fund a positive assessment, praising the index’s breadth and diversification, while awarding Vanguard’s equity index team an “Above Average” rating on the People Pillar. The fund, domiciled in Ireland since its launch on 23 July 2019, trades in euros, pounds, dollars and francs across Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Milan and SIX.

For investors, the arrival of the Amundi GDP?weighted ETF sharpens an existing debate. Those who believe US technology will continue to dominate global markets are well served by the market-cap approach and its lower cost. Those seeking a more balanced geographic spread now have a structurally different option — albeit at a higher price and without the track record of the world’s largest FTSE All-World ETF.