Vanguard VUSA or VUAA?

[benjisull]

Hey Folks

Could you please enlighten me on the differences between VUSA & VUAA

I’m looking at a long term investment strategy with accumulating dividends if possible.

Or could anyone please advise on the best Vanguard S&P 500 fund to use.

Thanks

[krr13]

VUSA in priced in GBP and VUAA is priced in USD.

They both track the same instrument, which in this case is the S&P500.

[trader787]

From a performance point of view it doesn’t matter which one you pick. It’s just displayed to you in either £ or $. the only way it would matter is if there is a currency conversion charge by T212 which there isn’t.

Edit. Saying that I see slight difference in day changes between KLWD (£) and WCLD ($) for example… Maybe someone can explain it.

[Vedran]

I would check this topic.

Which S&P 500 ETF to use

Just for fun of discussion, I thought I would share this interesting article in the FT yesterday. I have always invested in VUSA and IUSA, but these are losing popularity as there are alternatives with better tax treatment for European investors. Apparently the physically replicated S&P 500 ETFs like VUSA and IUSA have been losing investors as people switch to synthetic ETFs based on swaps. "BlackRock’s shift accompanies a widening belief that synthetic ETFs are a better structure for US eq…

[EquityInvestor]

Welcome to the community forum Ben

Regarding your question, what you might want to check is whether one is accumulation or distributing (whether it distributes or reinvests dividends). Depending on which country you are a resident of, one might be better to you than the other.

In terms of currency, on T212 there is no difference as T212 does not charge any conversion fees .

Most of these things have been asked before, in the future its probably quicker to use the search function on the top right. I have linked some posts below that you might want to read, you might find some of them useful.

Quick post on accumulating and distributing options and the currencies.

What's the difference ETFs' world

Distributed VUSA is in pounds (GBP) VUSD is in dollars (USD) IUSA is in pence (GBX) Accumulating VUAG is in pounds (GBP) VUAA is dollars (USD)

Other similar posts of interest:

What's the difference ETFs' world

Distributed vs Accumulated depends on your local country laws. Some countries don’t tax Accumulated for their reinvested dividend. Thus folks from those countries benefit less taxing. Otherwise if it is taxable, not much difference in terms of returns.

If you don’t understand why the currency of the ETF in this case does not matter, there was a longer explanation on this thread:

Etf Comparison VUSD / VUSA

Hey guys, can someone explain the difference between these two vanguard etf’s? I know VUSD is in dollar and VUSA in pounds. But is there any other difference?

A quick explanation on the with-holding taxes:

S&P 500 Lowest Fee

Both VUSA and IUSA are good. Their fees are 0.07%. However, there is one way in which it may be better to own stocks. VUSA currently yields 1.45%. The equivalent ETF that is available in the US is VOO, which has fee of 0.03% and yields 1.85%. The reason we only get 1.45%, rather than 1.85%, is two fold: firstly, the fee is greater; more importantly, Vanguard has to pay a 15% US withholding tax on the dividends. For a UK taxpayer that cannot be reclaimed or set against UK tax liability. So in a…

Note: If you are a UK investor investing in an ISA then distributing or accumulating makes no difference (I think both with-hold 15% tax on dividends)