Vanguard's Mother Of All EFTs - The Total World Stock Index Fund

IndexUniverse.com is reporting about a new global index fund offered from Vanguard, called the Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund. The new fund tracks the FTSE All-World Index, which currently weights the U.S. at 41% and the rest of the world at 59%. The index includes both developed and emerging markets, covering approximately 2,900 large and mid-cap stocks from 47 different countries. Talk about diversification. Investor, institutional, and ETF shares are offered. The fund trades under the symbol VT on the NYSE Arca exchange.

Not to be outdone, Northern Trust has registered, but not yet offered, an ETF to be called the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index Fund. What a mouthful. The index will cover 58 countries and more than 12,800 companies. Can you say transaction costs? At least one broker will be happy.