Three top-ups went into my Trading 212 SIPP today, and all three were Vanguard funds. Not because I get a commission (I don't — these are ETFs bought on a platform like any other), but because Vanguard's combination of broad diversification, rock-bottom costs, and sensible fund construction is, in my view, the best thing going for a long-term investor. Today I added to three existing positions: more VHYL, more VDPG, and more VWRP. Three funds, three distinct jobs, one platform. Let me walk through each one.
── VHYL — The Dividend Engine ──
VHYL is the Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF, and I've written about it before. It takes the global stock market and screens for companies with above-average dividend yields — you end up with around 1,500-2,000 stocks tilted heavily toward financials, energy, utilities, consumer staples, healthcare, and other sectors that tend to pay reliable dividends. The ongoing charge is 0.29%, the yield at time of writing is north of 3%, and inside a SIPP wrapper those dividends land completely free of UK tax.
Why more VHYL today? Because income inside a pension is magic. Every dividend payment buys more units — either of VHYL itself or of whatever else in the SIPP is below its target allocation. Those extra units pay more dividends next quarter. The compounding loop is invisible day to day, but over years and decades it becomes enormous. A 3% yield doesn't sound exciting — it's not meant to be. It's the slow, steady accumulation of income-generating assets inside a tax-free wrapper, running in the background while the growth side of the portfolio does its thing. VHYL is never going to double in a year. It's never going to be the holding I brag about at dinner parties. But in 20 years, when the pension has quietly accumulated thousands of extra units through reinvested dividends alone, it'll be one of the most important decisions I made.
I should also mention why I prefer VHYL over a UK-focused dividend fund. There are plenty of UK equity income funds out there — the FTSE 100 is famously dividend-heavy, with yields that often look attractive on paper. But the UK market is concentrated in a handful of sectors (banks, oil & gas, miners, tobacco, pharma) and a handful of companies within those sectors. A global high-dividend screen, which is what VHYL does, spreads the income across 1,500+ companies in dozens of countries and sectors. If UK banks cut their dividends (as they did in 2020), a UK income fund gets hammered. VHYL barely notices because UK banks are a rounding error in a global income portfolio. Diversification matters as much for income as it does for growth — maybe more, because the whole point of income investing is reliability. You don't want your dividend stream dependent on the decisions of a few FTSE 100 CFOs.
── VDPG — The Diversified Core ──
VDPG is the Vanguard Diversified Portfolio Growth ETF — a fund of funds that bundles several underlying Vanguard ETFs into a single, balanced portfolio. It's designed to be a one-stop shop: roughly 80% global equities, 20% bonds, automatically rebalanced by Vanguard's portfolio management team. The ongoing charge is 0.29%, which is very reasonable for what you're getting — a globally diversified multi-asset portfolio in a single ticker.
I've written about VDPG before, but it's worth revisiting why this fund earns a place in my SIPP alongside the individual building blocks I also hold. VDPG is the 'don't think about it' option. When I buy VDPG, I'm not making a call on US vs international, or equities vs bonds, or growth vs value. I'm delegating all of that to Vanguard's asset allocation team, who rebalance the underlying funds automatically. The 80/20 split gives me equity growth with a bond cushion — enough fixed income to take the edge off the volatility without diluting the long-term return potential too much. At 66, that balance matters to me. A 30-year-old can be 100% equities and not blink at a 40% drawdown because they've got 35 years of contributions ahead of them. I don't have 35 years of contributions ahead of me. Having a portion of the SIPP in something that smooths the ride — even just a little — helps me sleep at night.
Why top up VDPG today? Because I want the diversified core to keep growing alongside the individual positions. Every time I add to VDPG, I'm adding to global equities AND global bonds in a single trade, at a cost and allocation I trust. It's the ultimate 'I don't know what's going to happen next' investment — and admitting you don't know what's going to happen next is, in my experience, one of the most profitable things an investor can do.
A note on VDPG vs VUAG/VWRP, because I know the question will come up. Why hold VDPG when I'm so vocal about VUAG and VWRP being my main go-to? Because they do different things. VUAG is a pure S&P 500 bet — 100% US large-cap equities. VWRP owns the whole world. VDPG is a globally diversified multi-asset portfolio with bonds. VUAG and VWRP are the main engines — they're where I put money when I have high conviction on capitalism and a long time horizon. VDPG is the chassis — it's where I put money when I want broad, balanced exposure with less volatility. Different tools, different jobs, same SIPP.
── VWRP — The All-World Anchor ──
VWRP is the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF, and if you've read more than a few of my posts, you know this one. It tracks the FTSE All-World Index — over 3,700 companies across 40+ countries, developed and emerging markets, large and mid-cap, all in a single London-listed ETF. The ongoing charge is 0.22%. It's the accumulation share class, so dividends reinvest automatically. It is, in my view, the single best 'own everything' fund available to UK investors.
Why more VWRP when I already hold VUAG and VDPG? Because VWRP does something neither of those does: it owns the entire world. VUAG is US-only. VDPG is global but has a bond overlay and a fixed allocation. VWRP is pure global equity — no bonds, no screens, no tilts. It owns Apple and Microsoft at their market-cap weight, but it also owns TSMC in Taiwan, Nestlé in Switzerland, Samsung in South Korea, and thousands of smaller companies across emerging markets that don't appear in the S&P 500 at all. The US is about 60-65% of the index — still dominant, but meaningfully less than the 100% of VUAG.
I think of VWRP and VUAG as the twin engines — together they're my main go-to. VUAG is my conviction bet on American capitalism, VWRP is the global anchor that keeps the portfolio tethered to reality in case my conviction is wrong. If the US underperforms international markets for a decade (as it has done before — the 2000s were brutal for US equities relative to emerging markets and Europe), VWRP will hold up better than VUAG because it owns everything else too. If the dollar weakens meaningfully against other currencies, VWRP's non-US holdings provide a natural hedge. It's the fund I recommend when someone asks 'what should I buy?' — not because it's flashy, but because it's the hardest to get wrong.
── Why All Three Together? ──
Stepping back, today's three top-ups — VHYL, VDPG, VWRP — represent the quieter side of my SIPP. They're not the leveraged ETFs or the individual shares or the speculative satellite positions I occasionally write about. They're the boring, sensible, Vanguard-branded scaffolding that holds the whole thing up. Three different jobs: income (VHYL), balanced growth (VDPG), and pure global equity (VWRP). Three different risk profiles. All three are existing positions I've been adding to for a while, and all three earned more capital today for the same reason: they're sensibly constructed, genuinely diversified, and cheap enough that the compounding mostly belongs to me.
There's a pattern here I want to acknowledge because it's intentional. The funds I keep topping up — VUAG, VWRP, VHYL, VDPG, VAGS, VGOV — are almost all Vanguard funds. Not because Vanguard is perfect or because they pay me (they don't), but because their entire corporate structure aligns their interests with mine. Vanguard is owned by its funds, and the funds are owned by their investors. There are no external shareholders demanding profit growth. Every basis point of cost they cut flows directly to the people who own the funds — people like me. It's not a marketing slogan; it's a corporate structure. And over decades, that alignment matters enormously. When BlackRock and State Street compete on fees, they're doing it because Vanguard forced them to. I'm happy to hold iShares ETFs too — CNDX, WLDS, SMH are all in my portfolio — but when I reach for a core building block, Vanguard is usually where I land.
── A Quick Word on SIPP Discipline ──
One thing I want to mention that doesn't fit neatly under any single holding: the SIPP is a pension. I can't touch this money until at least age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028). That constraint is a feature, not a bug. It forces me to think in decades, not months. It removes the temptation to sell when things get scary. It makes the volatility irrelevant — what the S&P 500 does this week or this month or even this year doesn't matter if I'm not selling for 10+ years. Every top-up I make — whether it's VHYL, VDPG, VWRP, VUAG, or any of the others — is a decision to feed a machine that will run for a very long time before I touch it. That long runway is the single biggest advantage a pension investor has. The earlier you start and the more consistently you add, the more that runway works in your favour.
So there we are. Three top-ups, three Vanguard funds, three different jobs inside the same SIPP. No drama, no market timing, no hot takes. Just the slow, deliberate process of feeding a pension that gets a little bigger and a little more diversified every time I log in. Buy Less Crap. Invest Simply.
As always: this is what I did with my own money. Not a recommendation. All investing carries risk — you can lose money, and past performance doesn't predict future returns. ETFs track indices that can go down as well as up. Dividend-paying stocks can cut or suspend their dividends, and high-dividend strategies can underperform the broader market for extended periods. Multi-asset funds like VDPG contain bonds, which carry interest rate risk — bond prices fall when rates rise. Global funds like VWRP carry currency risk for UK investors. Vanguard funds mentioned are examples of products I use; I have no commercial relationship with Vanguard. A SIPP is a pension — you cannot access the money until you reach the normal minimum pension age (currently 55, rising to 57 in 2028). Tax rules can change. Do your own research and consider seeking professional advice where appropriate.