SPYL vs VGWD: which ETF won each year?

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

Every figure here is in euros — what you'd actually pocket buying on Xetra. Fund fact sheets usually headline returns in US dollars, which can look very different: in 2025 a world tracker rose about 23% in dollars but only about 9% in euros, because the euro gained roughly 13% against the dollar. Here's the full story, year by year.

SPYL tracks the S&P 500 IndexVGWD tracks the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index

What did the last 2 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. Both funds are measured over the same 2 full years (2024–2025) — the longest stretch both were trading.

SPYL turned it into
€13,856
+17.71% per year on average · 2024–2025
VGWD turned it into
€13,098
+14.45% per year on average · 2024–2025
Difference
+€758
SPYL made more of the same money

SPYL vs VGWD, 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
4
where both funds were trading
SPYL won
2
years
VGWD won
2
years
YearSPYLVGWDWinner
2026 (so far)+16.47%+17.20%VGWD
2025+4.71%+13.16%VGWD
2024+32.33%+15.75%SPYL
2023+8.23%+7.29%SPYL
2022—+0.08%—
2021—+27.90%—
2020—-9.60%—
2019—+25.03%—
2018—-8.03%—
2017—+0.41%—

SPYL vs VGWD in plain words

SPYL tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGWD follows the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SPYL charges 0.03% a year in running costs and VGWD charges 0.29% — SPYL is the cheaper fund to hold.

SPYL reinvests its dividends automatically (accumulating), while VGWD pays them out as cash (distributing). Across the 4 calendar years both funds were trading, SPYL finished the year ahead 2 times and VGWD 2 times. €10,000 invested at the start of 2024 was worth €13,856 in SPYL versus €13,098 in VGWD by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.

SPYL also trades in USD on the London Stock Exchange, where SPXL is its GBP line, ISIN IE000XZSV718 — this page follows its EUR line on Xetra.

VHYL is the London (GBP) listing of the same fund, ISIN IE00B8GKDB10 — VGWD is its EUR line on Xetra.

Fund facts: SPYL vs VGWD

FactSPYLVGWD
FundSPDR S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF (Dist)
TracksS&P 500 IndexFTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index
Yearly cost (TER)0.03%0.29%
DividendsAccumulating — dividends reinvestedDistributing — dividends paid out
Launched31 Oct 202321 May 2013
ISINIE000XZSV718IE00B8GKDB10
WKNA3EUC1A1T8FV
€10,000 investedWhat €10,000 in SPYL becameWhat €10,000 in VGWD became

How bumpy the ride was: SPYL vs VGWD

These head-to-head figures use only the 696 trading days both funds were listed: 2 Nov 2023 to 7 Oct 2026, roughly 2.8 years.

SPYL swung more than VGWD: annualised volatility of 14.6% for SPYL against 10.9% for VGWD, with SPYL moving 1% or more on 18.7% of trading days and VGWD on 8.3%. SPYL's worst day was -5.54% on 3 Apr 2025; VGWD's was -4.62% on 9 Apr 2025.

SPYL had the deeper drawdown: it fell -23.27% from its peak on 19 Feb 2025 to a low on 9 Apr 2025, then closed back above the old peak on 27 Oct 2025, 6 months after the low; VGWD fell -16.86% from its peak on 3 Mar 2025 to a low on 9 Apr 2025, then closed back above the old peak on 1 Oct 2025, 5 months after the low.

Day to day the two often go their own way: the correlation of their daily returns is 0.79, and they closed in opposite directions on 25.5% of the 695 days measured. The widest single-day gap came on 10 Jun 2024, when SPYL moved +4.03% and VGWD +1.85%.

MeasureSPYLVGWD
Annualised volatility14.6%10.9%
Worst day-5.54% on 3 Apr 2025-4.62% on 9 Apr 2025
Best day+4.12% on 6 Nov 2024+2.95% on 10 Apr 2025
Days moving 1% or more18.7% of days8.3% of days
Deepest drawdown-23.27%-16.86%
Peak to trough19 Feb 2025 → 9 Apr 20253 Mar 2025 → 9 Apr 2025
Back above the old peak27 Oct 2025 · 6 months1 Oct 2025 · 5 months

Years SPYL and VGWD parted ways

In 2 of the 3 completed calendar years both funds were trading, the two returns ended more than 5 points apart. The widest split was 2024: SPYL returned +32.33% and VGWD +15.75%, a gap of 16.6 points. They rose together in 3 years.

YearSPYLVGWDGap (SPYL − VGWD)
2025+4.71%+13.16%-8.5 pts
2024+32.33%+15.75%+16.6 pts

How often SPYL beat VGWD over any 12 months

Across the 16 rolling 12-month windows since November 2023, measured month-end to month-end, SPYL finished ahead in 37.5% of them (6) and VGWD in 62.5% (10).

12-month windows
16
month-end to month-end, overlapping
SPYL ahead
37.5%
6 of 16 windows
VGWD ahead
62.5%
10 of 16 windows

€200 a month into each, 2025–2025

Putting €200 into each fund at the start of every month from January 2025 to December 2025 (12 payments, €2,400 in total) would have grown to €2,576 in SPYL and €2,605 in VGWD, leaving VGWD €29 ahead.

OutcomeSPYLVGWD
Paid in€2,400€2,400
Value at the end of 2025€2,576€2,605
Gain on the money paid in+€176+€205
Gain in %+7.31%+8.52%

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 SPYL or VGWD better?

Across the 4 calendar years both funds were trading, SPYL finished the year ahead 2 times and VGWD 2 times. €10,000 invested at the start of 2024 was worth €13,856 in SPYL versus €13,098 in VGWD 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 SPYL and VGWD?

SPYL tracks the S&P 500 Index while VGWD follows the FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SPYL charges 0.03% a year in running costs and VGWD charges 0.29% — SPYL is the cheaper fund to hold. SPYL reinvests its dividends automatically (accumulating), while VGWD pays them out as cash (distributing).

Which is more volatile, SPYL or VGWD?

SPYL swung more than VGWD: annualised volatility of 14.6% for SPYL against 10.9% for VGWD, with SPYL moving 1% or more on 18.7% of trading days and VGWD on 8.3%. SPYL's worst day was -5.54% on 3 Apr 2025; VGWD's was -4.62% on 9 Apr 2025.

Which had the deeper drawdown, SPYL or VGWD?

SPYL had the deeper drawdown: it fell -23.27% from its peak on 19 Feb 2025 to a low on 9 Apr 2025, then closed back above the old peak on 27 Oct 2025, 6 months after the low; VGWD fell -16.86% from its peak on 3 Mar 2025 to a low on 9 Apr 2025, then closed back above the old peak on 1 Oct 2025, 5 months after the low.

How often did SPYL beat VGWD over a 12-month period?

Across the 16 rolling 12-month windows since November 2023, measured month-end to month-end, SPYL finished ahead in 37.5% of them (6) and VGWD in 62.5% (10).

What would €10,000 in SPYL have become?

€10,000 invested in SPYL at the start of 2024 grew to €13,856 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 17.7% per year.

Related comparisons

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Source: Yahoo Finance daily adjusted closes for the EUR trading lines on Xetra, dividends reinvested. Prices through · refreshed 7 Oct 2026, 08:49 UTC. How every number is calculated.