VUAA
iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF · iShares (BlackRock)
Educational content only, not financial advice. Not a personal recommendation — always do your own research.
Is VUAA a good investment?
VUAA is a solid, extremely low-cost way to own the 500 largest US companies in one fund. It's one of the most popular starter ETFs for a reason. The catch: it's 100% US and currently quite concentrated in a handful of tech giants — it isn't a globally diversified holding on its own.
Investors who specifically want US market exposure, or who are pairing it with a non-US fund for balance.
No exposure outside the US. A handful of mega-cap tech names (Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet) make up a large share of the fund, so it moves a lot with US tech sentiment.
What's actually inside VUAA?
Tracks: S&P 500 (500 largest US companies)
Weighted by company size, so it's dominated by the largest US firms — currently mostly Big Tech (Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Broadcom) alongside names like Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan. Holdings and weights shift over time as company values change.
Reality check: real historical range
Illustrative example, not VUAA's actual fund history: €100/month for 10 years under real historical worst/average/best 10-year stretches of a S&P 500.
Worst 10-year stretch
€11,424
-1%/yr avg · 2000–2009
Dot-com crash + 2008 financial crisis — the "lost decade."
Long-run average
€20,484
10%/yr avg · 1950–2024
S&P 500 average annualized return, dividends reinvested.
Best 10-year stretch
€35,287
19%/yr avg · 1989–1999
The 1990s bull market.
Approximate historical annualized total returns, dividends reinvested. Past performance doesn't guarantee future returns — but this range reflects real market history, not a guess.
VUAA vs VWCE
VWCE adds ~40% non-US exposure (Europe, Japan, emerging markets) for a bit more diversification and a slightly higher fee.
See VWCE spotlightCommon questions
Is VUAA a good investment for a beginner?
Yes, as a low-cost core holding — but consider whether you want US-only exposure or global exposure. Many beginners pick VUAA specifically because the US market has led global returns for over a decade, accepting the concentration risk that comes with it.
Isn't VUAA just a bet on tech stocks?
Partly — the S&P 500 is market-cap weighted, so as tech companies have grown, they now make up a larger share of the index than a decade ago. It's still 500 companies across every sector, but the top holdings are tech-heavy right now.
What happens if the US market crashes?
VUAA would drop with it — there's no other market to cushion the fall. That's the trade-off for the simplicity and historically strong returns of a single-country fund. Pairing it with a European or global fund reduces this concentration.
Available on
Ready to see what this could grow into?
Plug your own numbers into the calculator, or get a personalized plan.