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Index Battle · Evidence-first comparison

FTSE 100 vs CAC 40: 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

FTSE 100

UK blue-chip equities

vs

index

CAC 40

French blue-chip equities

Overall verdict

FTSE 100 provides uk blue-chip equities, while CAC 40 provides french blue-chip equities. The decision is primarily about geographic or asset-class exposure, not which has recently performed better.

Quick Decision

Choose FTSE 100 if…

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

Choose CAC 40 if…

you deliberately want french 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.

CharacteristicFTSE 100CAC 40
ExposureUK blue-chip equitiesFrench blue-chip equities
GeographyUnited KingdomFrance
Market coverageLarge capLarge cap
Emerging marketsNot includedNot included
Small capsNot includedNot included
WeightingMarket-cap weightedFree-float market-cap weighted
Index providerFTSE RussellEuronext

Key differences

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

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 CAC 40.

Common mistake

Assuming that adding CAC 40 to FTSE 100 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.

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.

CAC 40 reference product

Xtrackers CAC 40 UCITS ETF 1D

ISIN
LU0322250985
Product type
UCITS ETF
Provider
Xtrackers
Tracked benchmark
CAC 40 TRN INDEX
Distribution
Distributing
Currency hedging
Unhedged
Replication
Physical
Domicile
LU
Base currency
EUR
Ongoing charge (TER)
0.20%
Fund size
€117.13m
Inception
9 Jul 2008

Selected deterministically from 2 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.

Why these reference instruments?

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Disclaimer

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