VUAG vs CSP1, side by side
Vanguard's VUAG and iShares' CSP1 both track the S&P 500, both reinvest dividends, and both charge 0.07% a year. The honest lesson of this page is that when two funds track the same index at the same fee, the remaining differences - provider brand, fund size, the price of one unit - barely matter to the outcome. That is worth knowing in itself.
Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)VUAG.L£108.24+22% 1Y
iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc)CSP1.L£603.54+22% 1YVUAG
The 500 largest companies listed in the United States (Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and the rest), with dividends reinvested inside the fund.
CSP1
The 500 largest US companies (the S&P 500) from iShares, with income reinvested - a direct low-cost alternative to Vanguard's VUAG.
The numbers, side by side
| Measure | VUAG | CSP1 |
|---|---|---|
| What it tracks | S&P 500 | S&P 500 |
| 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. | 0.07% | 0.07% |
| Acc / Dist: Accumulating (Acc) reinvests dividends inside the fund automatically; Distributing (Dist) pays them to you as cash. Same index either way. | Acc | Acc |
| Holdings: Roughly how many different investments the fund spreads your money across. More holdings usually means more diversification. | 500 | 500 |
| Domicile | Ireland | Ireland |
| Replication | Physical (holds the underlying shares) | Physical (holds the underlying shares) |
| Yield: The income the fund has paid out over the past year as a percentage of its price. Accumulating funds reinvest this for you instead of paying cash. | Reinvested inside the fund | Reinvested inside the fund |
| Price | £108.24 | £603.54 |
| 1Y: How much the share price has moved over the past year. | +22% | +22% |
How they differ
Both track the same index (S&P 500), so the holdings are effectively identical - holding both would not add diversification. The ongoing charge is the same (0.07%), so the fee drag is identical either way.
Descriptive only - how the two compare on today's data, never a verdict on either.
VUAG, in one line
The 500 biggest American companies in one very low-cost package, with every dividend quietly reinvested for you.
Read the full VUAG explainer →CSP1, in one line
iShares' near-identical take on an S&P 500 fund that reinvests dividends, a straight alternative to Vanguard's VUAG.
Read the full CSP1 explainer →Common questions
If they are the same, why do both exist?
Competition. Vanguard and BlackRock (iShares) are the giants of index investing, and each offers its own S&P 500 tracker. The rivalry is why fees on mainstream trackers have fallen so low.
Does the different unit price matter?
No. One unit of CSP1 costs hundreds of pounds and one unit of VUAG around a hundred, but that is just how finely the fund is sliced - £1,000 invested in either owns the same 500 companies in the same proportions.