US ETF Irish equivalents — what to buy instead of VOO, VTI, SPY & QQQ
You can't buy VOO, VTI, SPY or QQQ from Ireland — EU PRIIPs rules block US-listed ETFs . The fix is the Irish-domiciled UCITS equivalent: VOO → SPYL or CSPX, VT → VWCE, QQQ → CNDX, VWO → EIMI. Same exposure, a wrapper you can actually buy — and a lower US dividend tax.
Last updated: June 2026 · Independent. Not financial advice — verify current data on the fund factsheet before investing.
Not financial advice. The information on etf.ie is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or investment advice. ETF investing involves risk, including the possible loss of capital. Tax rules may change — always verify current Revenue guidance and consult a qualified financial adviser or tax professional before making investment decisions.
The equity equivalents, at a glance
| US ETF | Tracks | Irish UCITS equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| VOO · SPY · IVV Vanguard / SPDR / iShares S&P 500 | S&P 500 — the 500 largest US companies | SPYL (0.03%) · CSPX (0.07%) · VUSA (0.07%, dist) Same index, exactly. SPYL is the cheapest, CSPX the most liquid, VUSA the one that pays dividends out. |
| VTI · ITOT Vanguard / iShares Total US Market | The whole US market — ~3,600 stocks incl. mid & small caps | CSPX or SPYL (S&P 500) No exact total-market UCITS exists. The S&P 500 is ~80% of US market value and is the standard stand-in. |
| VT Vanguard Total World | The entire global market — developed + emerging | VWCE (0.19%) The near-identical UCITS twin: FTSE All-World, one fund, ~3,700 holdings, accumulating. |
| QQQ · QQQM Invesco Nasdaq-100 | Nasdaq-100 — the 100 biggest non-financial Nasdaq names | CNDX (0.30%, acc) · EQQQ (0.30%, dist) iShares CNDX and Invesco EQQQ both track the Nasdaq-100. (QDVE is S&P 500 tech only — narrower; it leaves out Amazon and Alphabet.) |
| VWO · IEMG Vanguard / iShares Emerging Markets | Emerging markets — China, India, Taiwan, Brazil… | EIMI (0.18%) MSCI EM IMI — slightly broader than VWO because it also holds emerging-market small-caps. |
TERs are the fund-level annual fee. All Irish equivalents are Irish-domiciled (ISIN starts IE) and UCITS-regulated. Full picks and data on the best ETFs in Ireland page.
Why you can't just buy VOO from Ireland
The S&P 500 funds everyone knows from US investing — Vanguard's VOO, State Street's SPY, iShares' IVV — are listed in the United States, and an Irish broker will reject the order. It's not gatekeeping: under the EU's PRIIPs regulation, any fund marketed to EU retail investors must publish a standardised Key Information Document (KID). US issuers don't produce one, so the funds simply aren't available to you.
The replacement is the UCITS ETF — the European-regulated version of the same strategy, almost always Irish-domiciled. For a deeper look at what UCITS means and why Dublin domiciles most of Europe's ETFs, see Irish UCITS ETFs and the domicile advantage.
For the S&P 500, pick on cost — not on the US ticker
VOO, SPY and IVV all track the same index. So do their Irish equivalents — the only real differences are fee and whether dividends are reinvested or paid out:
- SPYL (SPDR S&P 500 UCITS, 0.03% TER, accumulating) — the cheapest S&P 500 UCITS by fee. Launched 2023, so a shorter track record than CSPX.
- CSPX (iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS, 0.07% TER, accumulating) — the most widely held and most liquid, ~€90bn in assets. The conservative default.
- VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS, 0.07% TER, distributing) — same index, but pays dividends out quarterly instead of reinvesting.
For most Irish long-term investors an accumulating fund (SPYL or CSPX) is more tax-efficient — see the tax note below. The full cost-per-broker comparison is in cheapest CSPX broker in Ireland.
Bonds, gold, REITs and dividends
Beyond equities, the popular US income and diversification ETFs also have Irish-domiciled stand-ins — though several are global where the US version is US-only, so the exposure isn't identical:
| US ETF | Asset | Irish UCITS equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| BND · AGG | US aggregate bonds | VAGF (0.08%) Global aggregate bonds, hedged to EUR — broader than US-only, and the hedge removes currency risk for euro investors. |
| GLD · IAU | Physical gold | IGLN (0.12%) Physical gold backed by allocated bars. Technically an ETC (a note), not a UCITS fund — but taxed similarly in Ireland. |
| VNQ | US real estate (REITs) | SPYJ (0.40%) A global REIT fund — wider than US-only VNQ. There is no large US-only REIT UCITS for Irish investors. |
| SCHD · VYM | US high-dividend equity | VHYL (0.29%) High-dividend yield across the whole FTSE All-World, so it is global rather than US-only. Distributions are taxed at 38% under Irish exit tax. |
The UCITS version isn't just legal — it's usually cheaper on tax
Buying the Irish equivalent isn't a compromise. Because the fund is Irish-domiciled, it pays only 15% US dividend withholding tax on its US holdings under the US–Ireland treaty, versus the 30% a non-treaty fund pays — a saving that lives quietly inside the fund's value and compounds for as long as you hold. An accumulating share class (CSPX, SPYL, VWCE) also defers the Irish 38% exit tax until you sell or hit the 8-year deemed disposal, instead of taxing every distribution as it lands.
The full mechanics are in our Irish ETF tax guide, and the treaty maths is worked through in why CSPX beats VOO.
Where to buy these ETFs
Every Irish equivalent on this page is available on the major Ireland-accessible brokers — DEGIRO, Trading 212, Interactive Brokers, XTB and Lightyear. The choice comes down to fees, FX cost and the quality of the tax export your broker hands you at year-end.
Compare ETF brokers in Ireland →Last updated: 22 June 2026
Fund identities (name, ISIN, ticker, TER, accumulating/distributing) verified against each issuer's factsheet and justETF, June 2026. Fund data is indicative and changes — confirm on the provider factsheet before investing. This is editorial information, not financial advice.
Not financial advice. The information on etf.ie is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or investment advice. ETF investing involves risk, including the possible loss of capital. Tax rules may change — always verify current Revenue guidance and consult a qualified financial adviser or tax professional before making investment decisions.