UK investors have a new favourite fund – at least if you believe the most popular investing blogs and influencers.
The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF has only been around since August but has already set the investing community abuzz. The launch of a new ETF – or ‘exchange-traded fund’ – wouldn’t normally make a ripple outside industry circles, but the Vanguard fund has made a notable splash.
Cheerleading YouTube videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views with headlines like ’Vanguard’s New UK ETF Just Destroyed the Competition’ and ‘I invested £40,000 into Vanguard’s new ETF’. Any dissenting voices – ‘5 reasons why you shouldn’t switch to Vanguard’s new fund’ – have been in the minority.
The enthusiasm is beginning to be reflected in sales figures, too. The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF jumped straight to the top of the list of best-selling ETFs on the Fidelity platform in September. It is already the seventh best-selling ETF of 2026 overall, despite launching in August.
Key to its appeal is its low cost. With an ongoing charge of just 0.07% the fund is significantly cheaper than its (already very cheap) rivals. Moreover, the fund’s global, all-cap remit means it gives comprehensive coverage of global stock markets – on a market capitalisation-weighted basis, at least.
This combination is making it a favourite of the growing army of investors who want to track global stock markets for the cheapest possible price, with as little need to switch in and out of investments as possible.
So – is this really one fund to rule them all? We’ve lifted the bonnet on the Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF to help you decide.
Vanguard’s new ETF – what are you getting?
The Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF – known by its a four-character identifying code ‘VALL’ – is a passively managed exchange-traded fund which tracks the FTSE Global All-Cap index. That means it aims to deliver whatever return is produced by that index – no more, no less.
To do that, it invests in (almost) all the companies in the index, according to the proportions in which they appear. Vanguard has a long tradition of running this type of passive fund and investors have trusted it to do the job with as little ‘tracking error’ – the difference between the fund’s performance and the index’s performance – as possible.Â
There is no fund manager or team of analysts making investment calls, which helps keep the cost low. The ‘All-Cap’ index it tracks includes some medium and smaller companies that other global index-tracking funds may not.
This is an ‘exchange-traded fund’ which means, unlike traditional mutual funds, it is traded on the stock exchange. Like a company share, VALL can be bought and sold throughout the trading day whenever the stock exchange is open.
Anyone consider investing in ETFs needs to be aware that you may be charged differently to invest in them, depending on the platform you’re using. This can make them more or less attractive depending on the type of investor you are – check the section on costs below for more on this.
How does Vanguard’s new ETF compare to alternatives?
VALL competes with many global tracker funds of different kinds. To make a worthwhile comparison, it makes sense to judge it against two of its closest relations:
- Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF – another Vanguard global index ETF, with the code VWRP, that tracks the FTSE All-World rather than the FTSE All-Cap;
- Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund – does the same job of tracking the FTSE Global All-Cap Index, but as a traditional mutual fund rather than an ETF.
Both of these are also strong sellers among Fidelity customers, and both might be options for investors looking for global stock market exposure in one place.
VALL vs. VWRP
The Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF (VWRP) and the Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap (VALL) differ mainly due to the indices they track. The All-Cap version includes more medium-sized and smaller companies that are excluded from the All-World version.
VALL carries an ongoing charge of 0.07%, compared to 0.14% for VWRP.
Vanguard allows investors to download a full list of holdings in its funds. The analysis that follows is based on a download of those holdings from 21 October. Note that these figures are liable to change as funds grow in size and make additions possible.
Based on downloaded holdings, it includes 6,986 holdings, versus just 3,865 in the All-World version. Look closer, however, and the difference is less significant. The extra companies held in the All-Cap version account for about 7.7% of the total fund size.
You can see how this alters the characteristics of these two funds by looking at a breakdown of the sectors and countries they invest in.
The new All-Cap ETF is slightly less exposed to the dominant tech sector – although tech remains its biggest sector exposure by far. It contains slightly higher exposures to industrials, basic materials and real estate.