Head To Head

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Axa vs Vanguard

FSA compares two US equity funds: the Axa World Funds Framlington American Growth Fund and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

by Rupert Walker 29 March 201910 November 2020

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Source: FE Analytics (fund NAVs in US dollars)

Performance

“Both funds have solid track records over three years, as would be expected given the strength of the US equities markets during that period,” said McDermott.

However, the Axa fund has a better three-year cumulative performance, with a 56.09% return compared to the 46.78% return of the Vanguard ETF.

“The Axa fund garnered most of its performance in 2017 [28.5%], exceeding the 19.19% return by the equity North America sector average,” said McDermott.

“It recorded small losses in both 2016 and 2018, but has bounced back quickly this year and is currently up about 15% year to date.”

“The Vanguard ETF slightly outperformed the same sector average in 2016 and 2017, but slipped below the average last year,” he added.

Discrete annual performance %

	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
Axa	-1.02	28.50	-2.97	3.50	8.88
Benchmark*	-1.89	29.67	6.56	5.19	12.54
Vanguard	-4.42	21.78	11.93	1.35	13.63
Benchmark**	-4.94	21.10	11.23	0.75	12.99

Source: FE Analytics. *Russell 100 Growth, **S&P 500

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