VOO vs URTH: which ETF won each year?

Yearly returns side by side, one winner per year — dividends included, priced as you'd actually buy them.

VOO tracks the S&P 500 IndexURTH tracks the MSCI World Index

What did the last 10 years do to $10,000?

You invest $10,000 at the start of the window and touch nothing — dividends reinvested, the running year not counted.

VOO turned it into
$39,747
+14.80% per year on average · 2016–2025
URTH turned it into
$32,044
+12.35% per year on average · 2016–2025
Difference
+$7,702
VOO made more of the same money

VOO vs URTH, year by year

Calendar-year total returns (dividends included) side by side, and who took the crown each year. A dash means the fund did not exist yet.

Years compared
15
where both funds were trading
VOO won
12
years
URTH won
3
years
YearVOOURTHWinner
2026 (so far)+12.73%+11.76%VOO
2025+17.82%+21.36%URTH
2024+24.98%+18.66%VOO
2023+26.32%+23.95%VOO
2022-18.17%-17.97%URTH
2021+28.79%+22.27%VOO
2020+18.32%+15.78%VOO
2019+31.37%+28.15%VOO
2018-4.50%-8.56%VOO
2017+21.77%+22.95%URTH
2016+12.17%+7.31%VOO
2015+1.33%-0.64%VOO
2014+12.93%+4.37%VOO
2013+32.39%+26.66%VOO
2012+15.99%+14.71%VOO
2011+1.90%——
2010+14.78%——

VOO vs URTH in plain words

VOO tracks the S&P 500 Index while URTH follows the MSCI World Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. VOO charges 0.03% a year in running costs and URTH charges 0.24% — VOO is the cheaper fund to hold.

Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically. Across the 15 calendar years both funds were trading, VOO finished the year ahead 12 times and URTH 3 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $39,747 in VOO versus $32,044 in URTH by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.

Fund facts: VOO vs URTH

FactVOOURTH
FundVanguard S&P 500 ETFiShares MSCI World ETF
TracksS&P 500 IndexMSCI World Index
Yearly cost (TER)0.03%0.24%
DividendsDistributing — dividends paid outDistributing — dividends paid out
Launched7 Sept 201010 Jan 2012
$10,000 investedWhat $10,000 in VOO becameWhat $10,000 in URTH became

How bumpy the ride was: VOO vs URTH

These head-to-head figures use only the 3,704 trading days both funds were listed: 12 Jan 2012 to 6 Oct 2026, roughly 14.7 years.

VOO and URTH swung about equally: annualised volatility of 16.6% for VOO against 16.9% for URTH, with VOO moving 1% or more on 22.7% of trading days and URTH on 23.5%. Both had their worst day on 16 Mar 2020: VOO closed -11.74% and URTH -11.38%.

Both funds suffered a drawdown of about the same depth: VOO fell -33.99% from its peak on 19 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 10 Aug 2020, 4 months after the low; URTH fell -34.01% from its peak on 12 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 24 Aug 2020, 5 months after the low.

Day to day the two usually move together: the correlation of their daily returns is 0.89, and they closed in opposite directions on 11.5% of the 3,703 days measured. The widest single-day gap came on 12 Jun 2013, when VOO moved -0.78% and URTH +4.18%.

MeasureVOOURTH
Annualised volatility16.6%16.9%
Worst day-11.74% on 16 Mar 2020-11.38% on 16 Mar 2020
Best day+9.54% on 24 Mar 2020+9.10% on 24 Mar 2020
Days moving 1% or more22.7% of days23.5% of days
Deepest drawdown-33.99%-34.01%
Peak to trough19 Feb 2020 → 23 Mar 202012 Feb 2020 → 23 Mar 2020
Back above the old peak10 Aug 2020 · 4 months24 Aug 2020 · 5 months

Years VOO and URTH parted ways

In 4 of the 14 completed calendar years both funds were trading, the two returns ended more than 5 points apart. The widest split was 2014: VOO returned +12.93% and URTH +4.37%, a gap of 8.6 points. They rose together in 11 years, fell together in 2 years and went opposite ways in 1 year.

YearVOOURTHGap (VOO − URTH)
2024+24.98%+18.66%+6.3 pts
2021+28.79%+22.27%+6.5 pts
2014+12.93%+4.37%+8.6 pts
2013+32.39%+26.66%+5.7 pts

How often VOO beat URTH over any 12 months

Across the 165 rolling 12-month windows since January 2012, measured month-end to month-end, VOO finished ahead in 80.6% of them (133) and URTH in 19.4% (32).

12-month windows
165
month-end to month-end, overlapping
VOO ahead
80.6%
133 of 165 windows
URTH ahead
19.4%
32 of 165 windows

$200 a month into each, 2013–2025

Putting $200 into each fund at the start of every month from January 2013 to December 2025 (156 payments, $31,200 in total) would have grown to $86,732 in VOO and $72,749 in URTH, leaving VOO $13,982 ahead.

OutcomeVOOURTH
Paid in$31,200$31,200
Value at the end of 2025$86,732$72,749
Gain on the money paid in+$55,532+$41,549
Gain in %+177.99%+133.17%

Each payment rides the return of the month it lands in, dividends reinvested. Only calendar years with all twelve months of data for both funds count, so the plan may start later than the shared history.

Frequently asked

Is VOO or URTH better?

Across the 15 calendar years both funds were trading, VOO finished the year ahead 12 times and URTH 3 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $39,747 in VOO versus $32,044 in URTH by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested. Past returns don't promise future ones — but this is what actually happened.

What is the difference between VOO and URTH?

VOO tracks the S&P 500 Index while URTH follows the MSCI World Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. VOO charges 0.03% a year in running costs and URTH charges 0.24% — VOO is the cheaper fund to hold. Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically.

Which is more volatile, VOO or URTH?

VOO and URTH swung about equally: annualised volatility of 16.6% for VOO against 16.9% for URTH, with VOO moving 1% or more on 22.7% of trading days and URTH on 23.5%. Both had their worst day on 16 Mar 2020: VOO closed -11.74% and URTH -11.38%.

Which had the deeper drawdown, VOO or URTH?

Both funds suffered a drawdown of about the same depth: VOO fell -33.99% from its peak on 19 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 10 Aug 2020, 4 months after the low; URTH fell -34.01% from its peak on 12 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 24 Aug 2020, 5 months after the low.

How often did VOO beat URTH over a 12-month period?

Across the 165 rolling 12-month windows since January 2012, measured month-end to month-end, VOO finished ahead in 80.6% of them (133) and URTH in 19.4% (32).

What would $10,000 in VOO have become?

$10,000 invested in VOO at the start of 2016 grew to $39,747 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 14.8% per year.

Related comparisons

More head-to-heads featuring VOO or URTH.

Source: Yahoo Finance daily adjusted closes for the US primary listings, dividends reinvested. Prices through · refreshed 7 Oct 2026, 08:49 UTC. How every number is calculated.