Investing · ETFs

VALL, VXUS & VSML: Vanguard's New ETFs, Explained

Vanguard's three new UCITS ETFs: VALL, VXUS and VSML.

If you're building a long-term global ETF portfolio out of Singapore, Vanguard just added 3 new options worth knowing about.

On 20 Aug 2026, they launched 3 new UCITS ETFs on the London Stock Exchange and other European exchanges, priced well below what's currently on the market.

None of these are exotic products. They're cheap building blocks for a global equity portfolio. So does that mean you should sell your VWRA, AVGS, EXUS or EIMI? Not necessarily.

This is exactly the situation I'm in with my own portfolio right now, so here's how I'm actually thinking about it.

The New Vanguard Trio

VALL is the one that caught my attention. At 0.07%, it's less than half of VWRA's 0.14% TER, and it adds something VWRA doesn't have at all: small-cap exposure. There's a catch, and it matters.

How to Actually Buy These as a Singapore Investor

Before the deep dive, the practical question: these are all LSE-listed UCITS ETFs, so you'll need a broker with UK market access. This is what I use, and how the sign-up works.

If you are new to IBKR, you can sign up through my referral link:

There is currently a referral promotion for eligible new customers. At the time of writing, new users can receive up to US$1,000 worth of Interactive Brokers Group stock. The calculation is US$1 worth of IBKR shares for every US$300 deposited during your first year, up to the US$1,000 maximum.

• The shares are tracked as a "Welcome Share Balance," and withdrawals during the first year can result in part of the awarded shares being clawed back.
• The awarded shares are also locked for 1 year from the date each batch is awarded.
• There are eligibility restrictions, so do read the full terms on IBKR's website before signing up.

One thing I'll always remind you: TER isn't your total cost. Brokerage commissions, exchange fees, FX conversion, and bid-ask spread all sit on top of that headline number.

If you're not sure how to set up your IBKR account, configure the right settings, or get a recurring investment running, I've written a full step-by-step walkthrough here: Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Singapore Guide 2026: How to Open an Account and Start DCA →

VALL vs VWRA

VWRA tracks the FTSE All-World Index. It covers developed and emerging markets, large and mid caps, around 3,700 holdings, at 0.14% TER.

VALL tracks the broader FTSE Global All-Cap Index. Same developed and emerging market coverage, but it adds small caps on top, taking the holding count to roughly 10,000.

VALL isn't a cheaper VWRA. It's a broader VWRA, and a cheaper one. That combination is why I've been paying close attention to it.

VALL vs My Target 90% VWRA + 10% AVGS Split

This is where it gets personal for me. The split I'm working toward is 90% VWRA + 10% AVGS. VWRA is meant to be the broad global core, and AVGS is there to deliberately tilt a slice of the portfolio toward global small-cap value.

AVGS is the Avantis Global Small Cap Value UCITS ETF, actively managed, benchmarked against the MSCI World Small Cap Value Index. As of 28 Aug 2026 it held around €1.12 billion in assets (roughly US$1.2 billion) across approximately 1,700 holdings, at a TER of 0.39%.

Run the weighted numbers on that target split:

That's roughly a 58% cut in weighted fund fee. For every S$100,000 invested, that's about S$165 a year dropping to S$70. At S$1,000,000, that's S$1,650 versus S$700, a difference of about S$950 a year.

So why not just build toward VALL instead of VWRA + AVGS? Because there's 1 word missing from VALL that I'm not willing to give up: value.

Small Cap Isn't Small-Cap Value

This is the part I think most people will miss, so let me be direct about it.

VALL gives you small-cap stocks. AVGS gives you small-cap value stocks. Those are not the same thing, and the difference isn't semantic, it's philosophical.

VALL is designed to represent the market as it is. Expensive small company, cheap small company, high profitability, low profitability, VALL owns all of it without judgment. It's saying "give me the market."

AVGS is different. Avantis actively selects small caps with characteristics tied to value and profitability. Its current portfolio has a weighted average market cap of around US$3.7 billion and is deliberately tilted toward value relative to its benchmark.

I'm not ready to give up that factor bet, at least not yet.

VALL vs VWRA + AVGS: Cost vs Benefit

Here's the trade-off, without telling you what to do with it.

If your only reason for holding AVGS was "VWRA doesn't have small caps and I want small caps," VALL gives you that, in 1 fund, at 0.07% instead of a 0.165% weighted TER. One ETF, all 3 cap sizes, 1 less position to manage.

If your reason was "I specifically want the small-cap value factor," VALL doesn't give you that. It owns the small-cap market as-is, cheap and expensive stocks alike, with no tilt toward value or profitability.

The cost saving is real and quantifiable: about 0.095 percentage points a year, which compounds. The benefit you'd be giving up, the value and profitability tilt, is not something you can put a number on in advance. It might add to returns over a full cycle. It might not.

Whether that trade-off is worth it depends on how much conviction you have in the factor tilt versus how much you value simplicity and lower cost. I do not think that VWRA is better than VALL as a pure market-cap-weighted fund. VALL is broader and cheaper, full stop. The question is only whether you want more than market-cap-weighted exposure.

Where VSML Fits

Vanguard also launched VSML, the FTSE Global Small-Cap UCITS ETF, at 0.22%. This is the more direct comparison to the small-cap sleeve of a VWRA + AVGS setup.

You could build VWRA + VSML instead of VWRA + AVGS. But again, these aren't the same bet.

VSML = "I want small caps."

AVGS = "I want small-cap value."

VALL = "I want the whole market, small caps included, no opinion."

Three different tools for 3 different beliefs.

If you already hold VWRA, you're diversified, but you're still missing the small-cap slice. Until now, completing that picture meant a second ETF: VWRA + VSML, or VWRA + AVGS.

VALL's pitch is simpler: why not just buy everything in 1 fund, for 0.07%? For anyone who believes in straightforward market-cap-weighted investing, that's hard to argue with.

Why I'm Not Selling My VWRA Yet

I'm not selling VWRA to go all-in on VALL. I do not think that VWRA is a worse fund than VALL for what it does. My priority right now is somewhere else entirely: I'm underweight Singapore equities, and I'm actively building that allocation up to my target first. I'll share the exact number in an upcoming video.

Once I hit that target, VALL becomes a lot more interesting to me.

There's a second reason I'm not rushing. VALL is brand new. It launched on 18 Aug 2026, listed on the LSE 2 days later. As of 28 Aug 2026, its assets stood at roughly €180 million, against VWRA's roughly €49.5 billion.

That doesn't make VALL a bad ETF. It makes it a young one. When you're moving meaningful money, TER isn't the only cost. Bid-ask spread matters too. A 0.07% TER looks fantastic on paper, but if a new ETF has a wide spread, some of that saving disappears the moment you actually trade it.

VXUS: The Ex-US Option

The second Vanguard launch, VXUS, gives you global equities excluding the US, at 0.12%. Useful if you already run a separate US sleeve and want full control over your US weighting, for example an S&P 500 ETF paired with VXUS.

One important flag: this is not the same VXUS as the well-known US-listed Vanguard Total International Stock ETF. Same ticker, different fund, different index (this one tracks FTSE All-World ex-U.S.). On the LSE, VXUS is the GBP-quoted line and VXUA is the USD-quoted line, the same pattern Vanguard used for VALL/VALU and VSML/VSMU. Don't assume the ticker alone tells you what you're buying.

VXUS.L vs EXUS + EIMI

Before VXUS existed, the standard approach was EXUS (developed markets, ex-US) + EIMI (emerging markets), combined in whatever ratio you wanted. Something like 80/20 or 70/30, your call on emerging market weighting. EXUS is well established at this point, with assets of around €6.7 billion as of 28 Aug 2026.

I actually covered this exact EXUS + EIMI combination a few months back, for anyone who holds only the S&P 500 and wants to diversify outside the US without giving up control over the split:

VXUS removes that decision entirely. One ETF, market-cap-weighted allocation across the non-US world, no say in the EM split.

VXUS is simplicity. EXUS + EIMI is control. Pick based on which 1 you actually want to manage.

VXUS.L vs AWEX

Xtrackers already runs a fund tracking the same FTSE All-World ex-US index, ticker AWEX, launched on 8 Apr 2026 at 0.15% TER. As of 28 Aug 2026 it holds around €46 million in assets. Vanguard's VXUS undercuts it at 0.12%.

Same index exposure, small fee gap, but both funds are new. I wouldn't treat a 0.03 percentage point TER difference as a reason to switch immediately. Liquidity and spread need time to mature on both sides.

So Which One Should You Actually Pick?

I'll keep this simple:

Want 1 ETF for the entire world? VALL.

Want the global market plus a deliberate small-cap value tilt? VWRA + AVGS.

Want global exposure plus plain small caps, no value bet? VWRA + VSML.

Want to control your US weighting separately? S&P 500 ETF (SPYL, CSPX) + VXUS.

Want to control your emerging market weighting? EXUS + EIMI.

Want 1 clean ex-US fund? VXUS.L, currently cheaper than AWEX on the same index.

ETF comparisons tend to collapse into a race for the lowest TER. But TER is only 1 input. You still have to ask what index it tracks, whether it carries a factor tilt, how much control you want to keep, and how liquid and how large the fund actually is.

VALL is cheaper than VWRA. But if you deliberately want the small-cap value tilt, it isn't a straight swap for VWRA + AVGS. VXUS is cheaper than AWEX. But if you want to control your EM weighting, EXUS + EIMI still gives you more than a single blended fund can.

Cheap and better aren't automatically the same thing.

To be clear about where I stand: VALL doesn't change my strategy this week. My focus right now is building up my Singapore equity allocation to where I want it. Once that's done, VALL moves to the top of my list for future global equity contributions, and I'll let it build AUM and liquidity in the meantime. VWRA has had since 2019 to reach roughly €49.5 billion in assets. VALL just launched. There's no reason for me to chase it this early.

Ticker Guide: What Each of These Funds Actually Is

If the alphabet soup above lost you at any point, here's what each ticker actually stands for, in 1 line.

Ready to open an IBKR account?

Disclosure: This article is not sponsored. It contains an affiliate link to Interactive Brokers (IBKR); if you sign up through it, including via the hmsg.link/ibsg welcome-rewards link, HoneyMoneySG may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. ETF prices can rise or fall, and past performance does not indicate future returns. Always consider your own circumstances, objectives and risk tolerance before investing.