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Index Battle · Evidence-first comparison

DAX vs FTSE 100: Which Exposure Fits Your Portfolio?

Compare their structural exposure, diversification and intended portfolio role—without treating recent performance as a decision rule.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026IndependentNo paid placementsInformational only

index

DAX

German blue-chip equities

vs

index

FTSE 100

UK blue-chip equities

Overall verdict

DAX provides german blue-chip equities, while FTSE 100 provides uk blue-chip equities. The decision is primarily about geographic or asset-class exposure, not which has recently performed better.

Quick Decision

Choose DAX if…

you deliberately want german blue-chip equities and it matches the intended portfolio role.

Choose FTSE 100 if…

you deliberately want uk blue-chip equities and accept its distinct concentration and risks.

Either can make sense if…

the exposure, implementation and risks fit a clearly defined portfolio objective.

At a glance

Entity characteristics—not reference-product fees.

CharacteristicDAXFTSE 100
ExposureGerman blue-chip equitiesUK blue-chip equities
GeographyGermanyUnited Kingdom
Market coverageLarge capLarge cap
Emerging marketsNot includedNot included
Small capsNot includedNot included
WeightingFree-float market-cap weightedMarket-cap weighted
Index providerSTOXXFTSE Russell

Key differences

  1. 1.Exposure: German blue-chip equities compared with UK blue-chip equities.
  2. 2.Geography: Germany compared with United Kingdom.
  3. 3.Weighting: Free-float market-cap weighted compared with Market-cap weighted.
  4. 4.Index provider: STOXX compared with FTSE Russell.

Decision scorecard

ExposureDepends
GeographyDepends
WeightingDepends
Index providerDepends

“Depends” means the category reflects an investor objective, not universal superiority.

Coverage, countries and sectors

Verified holdings, concentration, country and sector datasets are not currently connected. When available, each dataset will be labelled as official index data or Reference ETF holdings; listing domicile will not be presented as economic revenue exposure.

What this means in a portfolio

Holding both does not automatically create two independent portfolios. Overlapping companies and regions can make the combination an intentional tilt toward the exposure emphasised by FTSE 100.

Common mistake

Assuming that adding FTSE 100 to DAX automatically improves diversification, without checking overlap and concentration.

Historical comparison basis

Historical performance is represented using Grovcap-selected reference exchange-traded products. It is not the official index or spot return series. Fund or ETP returns can differ because of fees, taxes, tracking, cash positions, product structure and other implementation effects. Differences can reflect TER, tracking difference, withholding taxes, sampling, securities lending, cash drag, operating expenses, currency conversion and inception date.

No period is currently comparable across both reference products on a like-for-like currency, basis and reporting-date footing, so no return figures are shown. Grovcap never renders a missing return as 0.00%.

Grovcap does not currently hold a daily net-asset-value time series for these products. Indexed performance charts, annualised volatility, maximum drawdown and return-per-risk therefore remain unavailable rather than being estimated from period returns.

Reference instruments used

One canonical European exchange-traded product per exposure, chosen by published rules: exact benchmark family, active and published, plain long-only, then accumulating, unhedged, longest usable history and largest established product.

DAX reference product

iShares Core DAX® UCITS ETF (DE)

ISIN
DE0005933931
Product type
UCITS ETF
Provider
Ishares
Tracked benchmark
DAX (Performance index) NET (EUR)
Distribution
Accumulating
Currency hedging
Unhedged
Replication
Replicated
Domicile
Germany
Base currency
EUR
Ongoing charge (TER)
0.16%
Fund size
€8.58bn
Inception
27 Dec 2000

Selected deterministically from 8 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.

FTSE 100 reference product

Invesco FTSE 100 UCITS ETF Acc | Invesco UK

ISIN
IE00B60SWT88
Product type
UCITS ETF
Provider
Invesco
Tracked benchmark
FTSE® 100 Total Return Index
Distribution
Accumulating
Currency hedging
Not currently available
Replication
Synthetic
Domicile
Ireland
Base currency
GBP
Ongoing charge (TER)
0.09%
Fund size
£34.70m
Inception
1 Apr 2009

Selected deterministically from 12 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.

Why these reference instruments?

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Disclaimer

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