Compare, side by side
The questions beginners actually ask - Nvidia or AMD? Lloyds or Barclays? VUSA or VUAG? - answered the Almanac way: what actually differs, in plain English, with no winner declared. Pick a head-to-head, or compare any two names yourself.
Compare any two
Pick any two names in the Almanac - shares or funds - and see them side by side. Nothing leaves this page: no account, no cross-site tracking.
Shares, head to head
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Nvidia vs AMDThe AI-chip giant and its challenger
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Apple vs MicrosoftDevices and services, or software and cloud
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Alphabet vs MetaTwo advertising giants, different front doorsvs
Microsoft vs AmazonThe two cloud heavyweights
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Coca-Cola vs PepsiCoDrinks-only, or drinks plus snacks
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Visa vs MastercardTwo tollbooths on card payments
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McDonald's vs StarbucksA royalty collector and a store operator
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Lloyds vs BarclaysPure high street, or high street plus trading floor
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HSBC vs NatWestAsia-facing giant, or domestic lender
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Shell vs BPThe two UK energy giants
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AstraZeneca vs GSKGrowth-led pharma, or vaccines and yield
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Rolls-Royce vs BAE SystemsPaid by flying hours, or by defence budgets
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Unilever vs ReckittBroad everyday brands, or focused health and hygiene
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Tesla vs FordBorn electric, or retooling for itvs
Nvidia vs IntelDesigns the AI chips, or builds the PCsvs
Amazon vs WalmartRetailer with a cloud, or a store with a website
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Netflix vs DisneyPure streaming, or a media empire that streamsvs
Visa vs PayPalThe payment rails, or the wallet on top
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JPMorgan vs Bank of AmericaThe Wall Street leader, or the Main Street giant
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ExxonMobil vs ChevronThe two US energy majors
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Tesco vs Sainsbury'sThe scale leader, or the number two
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Aviva vs Legal & GeneralBroad insurer, or a retirement specialist
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National Grid vs SSEOwns the wires, or also makes the power
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Rio Tinto vs GlencoreA focused miner, or a miner-and-trader
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British American Tobacco vs Imperial BrandsThe global reinventor, or the focused cash generatorFunds, head to head
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VUSA vs VUAGIdentical fund - dividends as cash, or compounding
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VWRP vs VWRLThe whole world - reinvested, or paid outvs
VUAG vs CSP1Same index, same fee, different badgevs
VUAG vs VUKG500 US giants, or the UK's 100vsVWRP vs VUAGThe whole world, or the US onlyvs
VUAG vs EQQQBroad US, or concentrated US techSame fund, different flavour
These groups hold the same index in a slightly different wrapper - accumulating vs distributing, provider, fee. Here's exactly what differs.
Acc vs Dist, in actual numbers
£1,000 in an accumulating class growing at an illustrative 6.5% a year becomes about £1,877 after 10 years. The distributing twin ends at about £1,553 of units plus roughly £246 paid out to you as cash - about £78 less in total, which is exactly the compounding the cash missed by sitting outside the fund. Reinvest the payouts yourself and the two match. Same fund, same return - the only question is where you want the dividends to land. An illustration, not a forecast.
Vanguard S&P 500: reinvest, or take the income?
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.07% | Acc | £108.24 | +22% |
| Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Dist) | 0.07% | Dist | £106.19 | +22% |
The exact same 500 US companies. VUAG reinvests the dividends inside the fund (Acc); VUSA pays them out to you as cash (Dist). Acc compounds automatically; Dist hands you the income.
Deep dive: VUSA vs VUAG →FTSE All-World: one fund, the whole world
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.22% | Acc | £140.58 | +23% |
| Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (Dist) | 0.22% | Dist | £136.16 | +23% |
The same ~3,600-company whole-world index. VWRP accumulates the dividends, VWRL distributes them - otherwise identical.
Deep dive: VWRP vs VWRL →S&P 500 trackers, head-to-head
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.07% | Acc | £108.24 | +22% |
| iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.07% | Acc | £603.54 | +22% |
 Invesco S&P 500 UCITS ETF Acc | 0.05% | Acc | £11.25 | +21% |
 Xtrackers S&P 500 UCITS ETF 4C | 0.03% | Acc | $14.65 | +23% |
All track the same S&P 500 and all reinvest (Acc). For identical exposure the only thing that really differs is the ongoing charge - lower is simply cheaper.
The fee spread here (0.03% to 0.07%) is small-looking but it compounds: on £10,000 growing at an illustrative 6.5% a year, it works out to roughly £262 of difference over 20 years - purely from cost, for the same holdings. An illustration, not a forecast.
Deep dive: VUAG vs CSP1 →MSCI World trackers
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.2% | Acc | £107.09 | +21% |
 Xtrackers MSCI World UCITS ETF 1C | 0.12% | Acc | $158.07 | +22% |
 HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF | 0.15% | Dist | £36.35 | +20% |
The same ~1,400-company developed-world index from three providers. Compare the fee (HMWO pays income out; the others reinvest it).
The fee spread here (0.12% to 0.2%) is small-looking but it compounds: on £10,000 growing at an illustrative 6.5% a year, it works out to roughly £514 of difference over 20 years - purely from cost, for the same holdings. An illustration, not a forecast.
Developed World: Acc vs Dist
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.12% | Acc | £111.42 | +23% |
 Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF (Dist) | 0.12% | Dist | £105.58 | +23% |
The same developed-world index (the world minus emerging markets). VHVG accumulates, VEVE distributes.
UK large-caps: the FTSE 100, four ways
| Fund | OCF: Ongoing Charge Figure: the fund's yearly running cost, taken automatically. 0.22% is about £2.20 a year for every £1,000 you hold. | Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Price | 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.09% | Acc | £56.13 | +21% |
 Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Dist) | 0.09% | Dist | £45.53 | +21% |
 iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Dist) | 0.07% | Dist | £10.25 | +18% |
 iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Acc) | 0.07% | Acc | £215.20 | +21% |
All track the FTSE 100 - the UK's 100 biggest. Compare the fee and whether income is reinvested (Acc) or paid out (Dist).
The fee spread here (0.07% to 0.09%) is small-looking but it compounds: on £10,000 growing at an illustrative 6.5% a year, it works out to roughly £130 of difference over 20 years - purely from cost, for the same holdings. An illustration, not a forecast.