EWLD
Amundi MSCI World UCITS ETF EUR Dist
Published by Radif Partners · Updated
Overview
Amundi MSCI World UCITS ETF EUR Dist (EWLD) tracks the MSCI World index synthetically, through a swap agreement rather than by holding the constituents, and is managed by Amundi. Dividends are paid out to holders rather than reinvested, so EWLD suits investors seeking regular income. The fund is domiciled in LU, which determines the withholding tax treatment applied to its dividends. Annual charges come to 0.38% of assets, and the fund holds 1.1B under management. Over the past year the fund returned 16.1%, a history too short to judge it on. It is eligible for the French PEA, and can also be held in a securities account or a German Depot. Its risk level is rated medium. Launched on 2016-10-25, the fund is denominated in EUR and has 10 years of track record. It is a UCITS fund, so it follows the European framework on diversification, liquidity and asset segregation. Because EWLD distributes, every payment is taxable in the year it is received, against the dividend allowance in a general account, while it stays sheltered inside an ISA or a SIPP. Domicile in LU sets the withholding the fund itself suffers on the dividends it receives, a cost absent from the stated fee but present in the return.
At 0.38%, this fund costs more than twice the median of its category (0.19%) and over 19.0 times the cheapest (0.02%). On £10,000 the gap to the median is worth about 190 over ten years, and that difference is certain in a way no performance gap is. A premium can be justified, by an index no competitor tracks, by a useful trading currency, or by size that guarantees liquidity; it is not justified by the brand. The question is therefore plain: what does this fund offer that the cheapest on the list does not?
This fund tracks MSCI World through a swap: it does not hold the index constituents but a collateral basket, and exchanges that basket's return for the index's with a bank. Two consequences are real. It introduces counterparty risk, bounded by collateral revalued daily and by regulation, but not zero. And it makes possible what direct holding cannot: tracking an index closed to direct purchase, or avoiding withholding tax on dividends, which is why a synthetic fund sometimes beats its physical twin after tax. The swap's cost does not appear in the ongoing charge; it shows up in tracking difference measured over several years.
The domicile, Luxembourg, is not an administrative detail: it determines the withholding tax the fund suffers on the dividends it receives, and that loss appears in no fee table. Luxembourg has a comparable treaty network but is not as favourable as Ireland on US equities, a difference visible on a world index and not on a European one. For the holder, the UCITS framework also brings the key information document in their own language, diversification rules, and separation of the fund's assets from the issuer's.
Income is distributed: the fund pays out the dividends it receives, usually one to four times a year. For a holder living off the portfolio that is what is wanted, since the income arrives without selling. For someone still accumulating it is a tax disadvantage in a taxable account: each payment is taxed in the year received, so the amount reinvested is reduced before it starts working again. Reinvesting by hand also costs a dealing commission each time and often leaves cash idle for want of the price of a whole unit. An accumulating class on the same index, where one exists, settles the question.
With 1.1 billion in assets and 10 years of history, this fund has the size and the record that make closure unlikely and the spread narrow. Three checks remain, once a year, none of which depends on the market. The ongoing charge, which an issuer revises without notice and whose gap to a competitor can invert. The tracking difference, the only figure that says whether replication stays faithful. And the methodology of MSCI World, which can change its selection or weighting rules without the fund's name moving, in which case what you hold has changed with nothing to announce it.
MSCI World is a broad index, and that is the building block most portfolios have reason to own before any other, for a simple reason: it requires no forecast. Two points deserve checking before calling it diversified. Cap weighting concentrates the portfolio on the largest companies, so the top ten holdings can make up a substantial share, and that concentration grows without any rule changing. And the geographic scope matters: a developed-world index leaves out emerging markets, while a broad US index is not global exposure despite the international revenue of the companies it holds.
The published returns for this fund are incomplete, and that is itself information: without a multi-year record, the only available check is the structure, the 0.38% ongoing charge, 1.1 billion in assets and the replication method. A recent or little-followed fund is not a bad fund for that reason, but it can only be judged on what is known in advance rather than on what it has done.
0.38%
1.1B
1,100M EURMedium
1,536
Synthetic
Distributing
EUR
LU
MSCI World
Amundi
2016-10-25 (10 years)
Contextual Analysis
Fund Size
With 1.1B in assets, this is a large fund, good liquidity and tight spreads.
Fee Positioning
A TER of 0.38% is in line with the market average (~0.35%).
Track Record
Launched in 2016-10-25, this fund has 10 years of history, long and reliable track record.
Risk Profile
Medium risk, good risk/return balance for a 5+ year horizon.
Performance
Returns Summary
| Period | Ann. Return | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Month (est.) | – | +1.3% |
| 3 Months (est.) | – | +3.8% |
| 6 Months (est.) | – | +7.7% |
| YTD (est.) | – | +6.4% |
| 1 Year | +16.1% | +16.1% |
| 3 Years | – | – |
| 5 Years | – | – |
| Since inception (10y) | +16.1% | +345.0% |
Key Facts
Fund Profile
Themes & Zones
Holdings
Risk
How to Buy This ETF
Select your country in the menu to see available brokers and wrappers.
About this ETF
The Amundi MSCI World UCITS ETF EUR Dist tracks the MSCI World index. It is managed by Amundi using synthetic replication and follows a distributing distribution policy. The fund is denominated in EUR and domiciled in LU. It has a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.38%.
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Frequently asked questions
What do EWLD's 0.38% charges actually cost?
They are taken from the fund's value continuously and never billed separately: on £1,000 invested that is about £3.80 a year and roughly £38 over ten years at a constant amount. That is the only cost of the fund itself. Your broker's commission and the spread between buying and selling price come on top, and they weigh most on small frequent purchases.
Does EWLD pay dividends?
Yes: the fund distributes and pays out the dividends it receives, on a calendar set by Amundi. The payment is taxable in the year you receive it in most accounts, even if reinvested at once, and reinvesting by hand costs a commission each time. An accumulating class on the same index avoids that friction for anyone who does not need the income.
Can EWLD be held in a French PEA?
This fund is flagged as eligible, which matters: inside a PEA no tax is triggered before withdrawal, and after five years gains escape income tax with only social levies remaining due. Two caveats: your broker's own list prevails over ours, and eligibility can be lost if the fund changes its composition, in which case the plan has to be regularised.
How do you buy EWLD, and on which venue?
Through any broker that lists ISIN LU1437016972. The same strategy often exists in several share classes with different fees and distribution policies, and what counts is the class you buy rather than the one you read about: check the ISIN, not the name. A limit order avoids paying the spread of a thin order book, particularly outside the trading hours of the underlying markets.
Is EWLD genuinely diversified?
Less so than the number of holdings suggests. MSCI World weights its constituents by market capitalisation, so the largest companies make up a share of the fund far above their number, and that concentration deepens without any rule changing. The useful check is the weight of the top ten holdings, published monthly by Amundi: that figure says how many companies the outcome actually depends on.
This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Displayed performance is simulated.