OriginaveS&P 500, MSCI World & ACWI returns: USD vs GBP, year by year
The same three indexes, each measured twice: in US dollars (the fact-sheet number) and in pounds (the number in a UK investor's account).
Every table below puts a calendar year's total return in US dollars next to the same index's return in pounds sterling — real fund prices with dividends reinvested, not index maths. The USD column comes from a US-listed fund, the GBP column from the same (or an identical-index) fund's GBP trading line on the London Stock Exchange. The gap between them is, almost entirely, the GBP/USD exchange rate.
Across the last 15 full years the S&P 500's USD and GBP returns differed by 6.6 percentage points in an average year. The sterling investor's best currency year was 2016 (+22.10% extra from a falling pound), the worst 2017 (-10.87% lost to a rising one).
Feel free to cite these figures — a link back to this page keeps readers able to check the live numbers. The running year updates daily; completed years are final after the first trading day of January.
S&P 500: USD vs GBP, every year
SPY is the original US-listed S&P 500 fund; CSP1 is the iShares Core S&P 500 GBP line on the London Stock Exchange (the same fund as CSPX and SXR8). Identical index — the gap column is almost purely currency.
| Year | In USD (SPY) | In GBP (CSP1) | Currency gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +13.08% | +12.49% | -0.59% |
| 2025 | +17.72% | +9.37% | -8.35% |
| 2024 | +24.89% | +27.35% | +2.46% |
| 2023 | +26.18% | +19.79% | -6.39% |
| 2022 | -18.18% | -9.05% | +9.13% |
| 2021 | +28.73% | +31.07% | +2.34% |
| 2020 | +18.33% | +13.65% | -4.68% |
| 2019 | +31.22% | +26.42% | -4.80% |
| 2018 | -4.57% | +0.01% | +4.58% |
| 2017 | +21.71% | +10.83% | -10.87% |
| 2016 | +12.00% | +34.10% | +22.10% |
| 2015 | +1.23% | +5.78% | +4.54% |
| 2014 | +13.46% | +22.03% | +8.57% |
| 2013 | +32.31% | +31.40% | -0.91% |
| 2012 | +15.99% | +7.14% | -8.85% |
| 2011 | +1.90% | +1.73% | -0.16% |
MSCI World: USD vs GBP, every year
URTH is a US-listed MSCI World fund; SWDA is the iShares Core MSCI World GBP line in London (the fund better known by its dollar line, IWDA). Small fee and tracking differences are a rounding error next to the currency swings.
| Year | In USD (URTH) | In GBP (SWDA) | Currency gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +13.16% | +12.63% | -0.53% |
| 2025 | +21.36% | +12.64% | -8.72% |
| 2024 | +18.66% | +21.11% | +2.45% |
| 2023 | +23.95% | +17.59% | -6.36% |
| 2022 | -17.97% | -8.33% | +9.63% |
| 2021 | +22.27% | +23.64% | +1.37% |
| 2020 | +15.78% | +12.25% | -3.54% |
| 2019 | +28.15% | +23.03% | -5.11% |
| 2018 | -8.56% | -3.78% | +4.78% |
| 2017 | +22.95% | +11.78% | -11.16% |
| 2016 | +7.31% | +29.59% | +22.28% |
| 2015 | -0.64% | +4.06% | +4.69% |
| 2014 | +4.37% | +12.58% | +8.21% |
| 2013 | +26.66% | +25.32% | -1.34% |
MSCI ACWI: USD vs GBP, every year
ACWI is the US-listed iShares MSCI ACWI fund; SSAC is the same strategy's GBP line in London (ISAC in dollars, IUSQ in euros on Xetra). Developed plus emerging markets in one index, measured in both currencies.
| Year | In USD (ACWI) | In GBP (SSAC) | Currency gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | +14.30% | +13.87% | -0.43% |
| 2025 | +22.41% | +13.95% | -8.47% |
| 2024 | +17.45% | +19.63% | +2.18% |
| 2023 | +22.27% | +16.14% | -6.14% |
| 2022 | -18.39% | -8.56% | +9.83% |
| 2021 | +18.66% | +20.35% | +1.69% |
| 2020 | +16.34% | +11.80% | -4.54% |
| 2019 | +26.59% | +22.09% | -4.50% |
| 2018 | -9.12% | -4.76% | +4.36% |
| 2017 | +24.33% | +13.26% | -11.07% |
| 2016 | +8.40% | +29.60% | +21.20% |
| 2015 | -2.21% | +1.60% | +3.81% |
| 2014 | +3.83% | +11.27% | +7.44% |
| 2013 | +22.38% | +21.20% | -1.18% |
| 2012 | +16.75% | +9.30% | -7.45% |
How to read these numbers
Neither column is "wrong". The USD number is what the index did; the GBP number is what a UK investor holding the London line actually experienced. When the pound weakens against the dollar — the post-referendum slide of 2016, the slump of 2022 — the GBP column wins, and a middling year in dollars can look handsome in sterling. When the pound strengthens, the USD headlines flatter returns British investors never received.
Why the gap exists, when it flips, and whether hedging fixes it is covered in why your world ETF lags the S&P 500. Per-fund sterling returns live on the fund pages, e.g. CSP1 and SWDA, and CSP1 vs SWDA sets the S&P 500 against the world index in pounds.
Frequently asked
What has the S&P 500 returned in pounds rather than dollars?
The S&P 500 table above shows both for every full calendar year since CSP1's GBP line began trading in London: SPY's return in US dollars, CSP1's return in pounds, and the gap between them. Over the last 15 full years the two differed by 6.6 percentage points in an average year; a weaker pound added most in 2016 (+22.10%) and a stronger pound cost most in 2017 (-10.87%). Both are total returns with dividends reinvested, computed from actual fund prices rather than index levels.
Why does my S&P 500 ETF show a different return from the fact sheet?
Fact sheets quote the fund and its index in US dollars, the fund's base currency. A GBP line bought on the London Stock Exchange is valued in pounds, so its return is the dollar return plus whatever the dollar did against the pound over the year: a stronger pound shrinks the sterling return, a weaker pound inflates it. Neither number is wrong — they measure the same shares in two currencies.
Which return do I actually get in an ISA or SIPP?
The sterling one. Inside a Stocks and Shares ISA, a SIPP or a general investment account, a GBP line is bought, valued and sold in pounds, so the GBP column is the return that appears in your account. Buying the USD line of the same fund instead (CSPX rather than CSP1, say) changes the quote currency, not the exposure: the dollars still convert into pounds at the going rate when you sell.
Would a GBP-hedged ETF have avoided the gap?
Most of it. A GBP-hedged share class uses currency forwards to cancel the bulk of the dollar–sterling swing, so its return tracks the USD column less the cost of the hedge, which follows the gap between UK and US interest rates. Hedging looked brilliant in years the pound rallied and wasteful in years it fell; over long horizons currency moves have historically washed out for equity investors, which is why most long-term investors hold unhedged funds. It is a choice about the ride, not a free lunch.
Are CSP1, SWDA and SSAC the same funds as their USD and EUR lines?
Yes. CSP1, SWDA and SSAC are the GBP trading lines of iShares Core S&P 500 (ISIN IE00B5BMR087), iShares Core MSCI World (IE00B4L5Y983) and iShares MSCI ACWI (IE00B6R52259). The same shares trade in dollars in London as CSPX, IWDA and ISAC, and in euros on Xetra as SXR8, EUNL and IUSQ — one fund, one pool of assets, only the currency of the quote differs. The USD columns use US-listed funds on the same indexes (SPY, URTH and ACWI), whose dollar returns match those USD lines to within fees and tracking.
How are the sterling returns calculated?
From each GBP line's daily adjusted closes on the London Stock Exchange, compounded from the final close of one year to the final close of the next, with dividends reinvested — all three GBP funds are accumulating share classes, so that happens inside the fund anyway. The USD figures come the same way from SPY, URTH and ACWI. A fund's first year only counts when its data starts in the first trading days of January, so no launch-year stub is passed off as a calendar year, and the running year shows completed months only.
Related reading: currency effect and total return in the glossary, or see every year's GBP outcome on the yearly performance dashboard.
Source: Yahoo Finance daily adjusted closes for the GBP trading lines on the London Stock Exchange, dividends reinvested. Prices through · refreshed 14 Sept 2026, 12:02 UTC. How every number is calculated.