Quick one today. Added more VUAG to my Trading 212 SIPP — the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (Acc). I already own a significant amount of this across multiple platforms, and today I simply added more. No dramatic market call. No clever timing. Just feeding the engine.
VUAG is, for my money, the single most important holding I own. It tracks the S&P 500 — 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States — with an ongoing charge of 0.07%. That's seven basis points. For that you get Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Berkshire Hathaway, and 493 others, all in a single London-listed ETF that trades in sterling. The accumulation share class means dividends get automatically reinvested — no income to think about, no cash drag, just pure compounding inside a tax-efficient SIPP wrapper.
Why add more to a position I already own a lot of? Because the thesis hasn't changed. The S&P 500 is not a bet on the American economy — it's a bet on global capitalism. Roughly 40% of S&P 500 revenues come from outside the US. These are multinational businesses selling to the entire world, listed in New York. The index naturally refreshes itself over time — underperformers drop out, new leaders rise in. The US has the deepest, most liquid capital markets on earth, and the S&P 500 is the purest way to own them at rock-bottom cost.
I know the counterarguments. US valuations are elevated. Concentration in the top few names is extreme. The dollar could weaken. A lost decade is always possible — Japan taught us that. I don't dismiss any of those risks. But my time horizon on this SIPP is measured in years, not months. And over sufficiently long periods, the S&P 500 has been extraordinarily resilient. Not because America is exceptional, but because profitable, well-run companies that adapt and grow tend to increase in value over time. That's not a guarantee — nothing in investing is — but it's the basis on which I keep adding to VUAG.
Today's top-up was straightforward. Nothing dramatic in terms of amount — just regular capital directed to the core holding. I didn't check the price before buying. I didn't look at a chart. I logged into Trading 212, went to my SIPP pie, and added to VUAG. That's it. The less excitement involved in my investing, the better my long-term results have tended to be.
One thing worth noting: VUAG already sits inside VDPG — the Vanguard Diversified Portfolio Growth ETF I also hold in my SIPP. So when I buy VDPG, I'm getting S&P 500 exposure through the fund-of-funds structure. And when I buy VUAG directly, I'm adding a pure, undiluted S&P 500 allocation on top. That's deliberate. VDPG gives me the diversified core with bonds for stability. VUAG gives me a direct, low-cost line to the S&P 500 without the bond overlay. Together they form the bulk of my SIPP's equity exposure. Different tools for different jobs inside the same pension.
Is this a recommendation? No. The S&P 500 has done well over long periods in the past — but past performance does not predict future returns. US stocks can go down as well as up. Currency risk is real for UK investors. Concentration risk in the top names is real. What works for my circumstances — a SIPP with a long time horizon and a high tolerance for equity volatility — may be completely wrong for yours. Do your own research.
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. The S&P 500 is concentrated in US equities and can be volatile. Currency fluctuations between sterling and the dollar will affect your returns as a UK investor.