Vanguard FTSE Europe Shares ETF (VEQ) — Review & Analysis

VEQ is Vanguard's broad Europe ETF, tracking the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index — a wider universe than the S&P Europe 350 that IEU tracks. The 0.35% p.a. management fee makes VEQ the cheapest broad Europe ETF on the ASX, tying ESTX on fee. AUM is reported as $0M as at May 2026 in the platform feed, reflecting an early-stage data gap on the wrapper rather than no investor demand. Compare VEQ across the Europe cohort on our Europe ETF page, or use the Compare ETFs tool to evaluate against IEU, ESTX or HEUR.

VEQ's portfolio composition is similar to IEU — both include UK, Swiss and Eurozone names — but the FTSE All Cap structure means VEQ holds more mid and small-cap European companies that the S&P 350 excludes. Top holdings are functionally identical (Novo Nordisk, ASML, Nestlé, SAP, AstraZeneca, Roche), with country weights around 22-25% UK, 17-20% France, 12-15% Switzerland and 12-15% Germany.

The IEU vs VEQ decision comes down primarily to fee. VEQ at 0.35% saves 24bp annually versus IEU's 0.59% — material over long holding periods. Both deliver broadly similar exposure. For investors who want a hedged version of the broad Europe exposure, HEUR (0.56%) is the only AUD-hedged broad Europe option; for narrower Eurozone-only exposure, ESTX at 0.35%.

VEQ is unhedged for currency. The Vanguard brand and global parent provide adviser credibility and tight execution as AUM scales. Our every theme ETF on the ASX guide compares Europe and other regional ETFs across fees and methodology.