For years, VWRP has been the default "one fund for the whole world" for UK investors. In August 2026 Vanguard launched VALL, a global tracker that charges half as much and reaches further down into smaller companies. My view is simple: VALL is the better pick for almost all investors. The main reason is cost: it owns the same global market for half the price. It also spreads your money slightly more evenly across the global equity market, by including the smaller companies VWRP leaves out. Here's how the two compare, with figures from Vanguard's and FTSE Russell's own documents, and the few cases where VWRP still makes sense.
What's the difference between VWRP and VALL?
Both are Irish-domiciled Vanguard ETFs that own shares in thousands of companies across developed and emerging markets, weighted by size, with dividends reinvested. The differences are the index each tracks, what that index includes, and the charge.
| VWRP | VALL | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Acc | FTSE Global All-Cap UCITS ETF (USD) Acc |
| Index | FTSE All-World | FTSE Global All Cap |
| Company sizes | Large and mid | Large, mid and small |
| Share of the investable market | About 90% | About 98% |
| Stocks in the index | 4,203 | 10,221 |
| Stocks the fund holds | 3,821 | 6,977 |
| Ongoing charge (OCF) | 0.14% | 0.07% |
| Listed in London | July 2019 | August 2026 |
| Size (accumulating share class) | About US$60bn | About US$2.5bn |
| Price per share (late October 2026) | About £144 | About £3.70 |
Stock counts and holdings are as at 30 September 2026. Charges are from Vanguard's costs and charges document.
Is VALL cheaper than VWRP?
Yes. VALL's ongoing charge is 0.07% a year against VWRP's 0.14%, a saving of 0.07 percentage points. That's £7 a year for every £10,000 invested. Vanguard cut VWRP's charge to 0.14% in July 2026, but VALL still costs half as much.
| Invested | VWRP a year | VALL a year | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10,000 | £14 | £7 | £7 |
| £50,000 | £70 | £35 | £35 |
| £100,000 | £140 | £70 | £70 |
| £250,000 | £350 | £175 | £175 |
The saving compounds: money not paid in charges stays invested and keeps growing. Over decades on a large portfolio, that becomes a meaningful sum.
Vanguard also publishes transaction costs, the cost of the fund buying and selling shares: 0.03% for VWRP and 0.02% for VALL. VALL's figure predates its launch, so treat it as an estimate until a full year of data is out.
Your platform charges you on top of the fund's OCF. On Vanguard Investor, the account fee is the same whichever ETF you hold: £4 a month below £32,000, then 0.15% a year capped at £375.
If you hold Vanguard's FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund (the traditional fund version, OCF 0.23%), VALL tracks exactly the same index for 0.16 percentage points less. On £50,000, that's £80 a year.
What does VALL's small-cap exposure change?
VALL's index contains every company in VWRP's, plus about 5,900 smaller ones. In FTSE's index data, small caps make up about 9% of the FTSE Global All Cap index by value. Because they're added on top, the large and mid-sized companies make up a slightly smaller share of VALL than of VWRP. The biggest names count for a little less, but the overall shape barely moves.
| As at 30 September 2026 | VWRP | VALL |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 62.24% | 62.38% |
| Japan | 6.06% | 6.04% |
| United Kingdom | 3.12% | 3.15% |
| Top 10 holdings combined | About 25% | About 22% |
So VALL is not a different bet on the world. It's the same market-weighted portfolio with the remaining tenth of the market filled in, and slightly less concentrated in the biggest companies. I see that as a modest plus: it's a more complete version of the same idea. Whether small caps add to returns depends on how they do against large companies, which has varied over time and can't be predicted, so I wouldn't choose VALL for that alone. Cost is the main reason.
Is VALL better for micro investors?
Where VALL does help smaller investors is its share price: about £3.70 a share against VWRP's £144. That matters most on Vanguard Investor, which only buys whole ETF shares, with anything left over sitting in your account as cash:
- £100 a month, Vanguard's minimum regular investment, buys 26 VALL shares, but not a single VWRP share.
- A £500 lump sum, Vanguard's minimum, buys 3 VWRP shares and leaves about £68 (14%) uninvested; in VALL, about £3 is left over.
On platforms that buy fractional shares, this advantage disappears, but cost alone still favours VALL.
What are the downsides of VALL?
VALL is new, and new funds carry some uncertainty that a seven-year-old fund doesn't. None of these changes my view, but you should know them:
- No track record. VALL listed on 20 August 2026. Vanguard doesn't publish tracking statistics until a fund is a year old, so we don't yet know how closely it follows its index after costs. VWRP's tracking error has been about 0.07% to 0.08% a year.
- Much smaller, for now. About US$2.5bn against VWRP's US$60bn share class (US$87bn across all its share classes). I expect that gap to narrow: VALL reached US$2.5bn within about ten weeks of launch, and it's been one of the most talked-about funds on r/UKPersonalFinance and r/FIREUK since. For an index fund, size matters far less than cost, and I don't see it as a reason to avoid VALL.
- More sampling. VALL holds about 68% of its index's stocks, mostly leaving out the very smallest; VWRP holds about 91%. That's normal for an all-cap fund, but it's one more way returns can drift from the index.
- No pound-traded income version. VALL's distributing share class (VACD) only trades in US dollars in London. If you want dividends paid out, VWRL is simpler.
- Ticker confusion. "VALL" is also used on other European exchanges, in other currencies. On a UK platform, check you're buying the London-listed line priced in pounds (ISIN IE000VAHT5T0).
Should you switch from VWRP to VALL?
For new money, I'd send it to VALL. For money already in VWRP, it depends on the account:
- In an ISA or SIPP, switching is generally worthwhile. Gains in these accounts are tax-free, so selling VWRP and buying VALL costs only any dealing charges and the short time your money is out of the market between the two trades. On Vanguard Investor, trades placed for its scheduled daily dealing times are free. In return, you halve your fund charge for as long as you hold it.
- In a general investment account, don't trigger a capital gain just to switch. Selling VWRP at a profit can create a Capital Gains Tax bill, and on a large gain the tax could outweigh decades of VALL's saving. Keep your existing VWRP and send new money to VALL. If you're selling anyway, or have gains to use up within your annual tax-free allowance, that's a natural moment to move.
- The saving scales with the amount. On £10,000 the switch saves £7 a year; on £300,000 it's £210, every year.
There's little reason to hold both: VALL's index already includes every company in VWRP's, so owning the two mostly just averages your cost.
My verdict: VALL is the better pick
For almost all investors, VALL is the better choice. It owns the same global market as VWRP for half the price, with a slightly broader spread of companies, and its low share price makes it easier to invest small amounts on Vanguard Investor. If you hold Vanguard's Global All Cap Index Fund at 0.23%, VALL tracks exactly the same index for much less.
VWRP still makes sense if you:
- hold it in a general account with large gains, where switching would trigger tax (keep it, and add new money to VALL),
- want dividends paid out in pounds (VWRL, its distributing version), or
- would rather wait for VALL to build a year of tracking history before switching an existing holding.
This is my view of two funds, not personal advice: it can't take account of your circumstances, and investments can fall as well as rise.