ETF overlap for European investors
European portfolios tend to hold three or four UCITS ETFs that feel diversified and are mostly the same twenty American companies. Here is which popular UCITS funds overlap, which genuinely complement each other, and how to check your own — read by the index each fund tracks, which is what actually decides overlap.
Why this hits European investors especially hard
Two things stack up. First, Morningstar's Instant X-Ray — the tool that used to reveal stock-level overlap — was retired for individual investors, and the UK edition was shut down in 2025, so most European DIY investors have no easy way to see through their funds. Second, the most-recommended UCITS building blocks (a World fund, an S&P 500 fund, maybe a Nasdaq-100 fund) are all cap-weighted and all top-heavy in the same US mega-caps. Buy the popular three and you can end up with 60%+ of your money in roughly ten stocks.
The popular UCITS funds, by what they actually hold
| UCITS ETF | Index it tracks | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| VWCE / VWRL | FTSE All-World | ~3,700 stocks, developed + emerging, ~60% US |
| IWDA / SWDA | MSCI World | ~1,400 developed-market stocks, ~70% US |
| VUAA / CSPX / SXR8 | S&P 500 | ~500 US large-caps |
| EQQQ / CNDX / SXRV | Nasdaq-100 | ~100 US large-caps, tech-heavy |
| EIMI / EMIM | MSCI EM IMI | ~3,000 emerging-market stocks, no US |
| VGK (US-listed) / VEUR | FTSE Developed Europe | European large/mid-caps, no US |
Which combinations overlap — and which don't
| You hold… | Overlap? | What's really happening |
|---|---|---|
| VWCE + IWDA | Very high | Same developed-market core; VWCE just adds EM + small-caps. Redundant together. |
| VWCE (or IWDA) + VUAA/CSPX | High (subset) | The S&P 500 is already the top ~500 names of the World fund. You're overweighting US large-cap, not adding anything new. |
| IWDA + EQQQ/CNDX | Partial | All 100 Nasdaq names sit inside MSCI World — you're tilting hard toward US tech mega-caps. |
| IWDA + EIMI | Minimal | Developed vs emerging — mutually exclusive by design. Together ≈ VWCE. The smart pairing. |
| VWCE + VGK/VEUR | Partial | European names in VWCE get doubled up — a deliberate "home tilt," fine if intentional. |
Overlap here is structural: it follows from the indices, since a cap-weighted fund is just its index. The exact percentages depend on current weights — which is what a look-through calculation gives you.
Check your UCITS funds — live now
Six flagship UCITS ETFs are now computed from official issuer holdings files, exactly like our US funds: VWCE, VUAA, IWDA, CSPX, CNDX, and EIMI. Popular pair checks: IWDA vs VWCE, CSPX vs VUAA, EIMI vs IWDA, or the cross-Atlantic sanity check CSPX vs VOO. For your whole portfolio, add them with dollar amounts in the free ETF overlap checker — see how the numbers are computed.
Prefer to see it in the language of the old Morningstar tool? Our Morningstar Instant X-Ray alternative rebuilds the Stock Intersection view, free and with no signup.
Want more UCITS funds covered?
Vanguard and iShares flagships are live; Amundi, Xtrackers, Invesco and more UCITS lines are added by demand. Tell us which funds matter to you in the optional notes on the Portfolio Drift request form — demand shapes what we add next.
FAQ
Do VWCE and IWDA overlap?
Heavily. VWCE (Vanguard FTSE All-World) and IWDA (iShares Core MSCI World) are both cap-weighted global equity funds dominated by the same US mega-caps — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet. The main difference is that VWCE also includes emerging markets (~10%) and more small-caps, while IWDA is developed markets only. Holding both is mostly doubling down on the same top 20 stocks, not diversifying.
Does VUAA overlap with VWCE or IWDA?
Almost entirely — as a subset. VUAA (and CSPX / SXR8, the iShares S&P 500 UCITS) tracks the S&P 500, whose ~500 US large-caps are the top holdings of both IWDA and VWCE. Adding an S&P 500 UCITS on top of a World or All-World fund concentrates your portfolio further into US large-cap; it does not add new companies you did not already own.
Is IWDA + EIMI a good non-overlapping combination?
Yes — this is the classic "build your own All-World" pairing and it is designed not to overlap. IWDA covers developed markets, EIMI (iShares Core MSCI EM IMI) covers emerging markets, and the two indices are mutually exclusive by construction. Combined at roughly 85/15 they approximate VWCE, which is exactly the point.
Can I check UCITS ETF overlap on OverlapCheck today?
Yes. VWCE, VUAA, IWDA, CSPX, CNDX, and EIMI are live with full holdings read from official Vanguard and iShares files — pick them in the free calculator like any other fund, or open a pair page such as IWDA vs VWCE for the exact shared holdings and weight overlap. More UCITS funds are added by demand.