Info · Reference
The global stock market, slice by slice
A single global fund like VT just holds the whole investable stock market in proportion to each company's size. Holding the world in those market-cap weights is one rational, widely used starting point for a stock portfolio — not a recommendation, and not the only sensible approach. Someone who wants it often can't buy a single such fund in every account, since a 401(k), an IRA, and an HSA each offer a different, limited menu. This page provides the current size of every slice of the market.
Data as of June 30, 2026 FTSE Global All Cap Index (the index Vanguard's VT tracks), cross-checked against VT's published composition. Data as of June 30, 2026. Refreshed monthly. · source & method
Start here: the US and everything else
The simplest cut of the world is two pieces. Roughly 62.2% of global stock-market value sits in the United States; the other 37.8% is everywhere else. Held in that proportion, those two pieces already have the shape of a total-world portfolio.
This split can be matched with two funds — a US total-market fund and a total-international fund — in roughly 62 / 38 proportion.
The full map
Go one level deeper and the world splits into three regions, each divided by company size — large, mid, and small cap. Every bar below is sized by its share of the entire world market, so the whole strip adds to 100%.
- United States
- Developed ex-US
- Emerging markets
- Lighter shade = smaller companies (large → mid → small)
| Slice of the market | Share of region This cap tier's share of its own region's market cap. Based on the index's size-band methodology, which barely changes month to month. | Share of world | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 62.2% | The single largest slice of the world's stock market — roughly three-fifths of it. | |
| Large cap | 71% | 44.2% | The biggest US stocks. An S&P 500 fund covers this band and reaches into the next, about 80% of the US market. |
| Mid cap | 19% | 11.8% | The middle tier the S&P 500 leaves out. |
| Small cap | 10% | 6.2% | The long tail of smaller US companies. |
| Developed markets ex-US | 27.8% | Canada, Western Europe, Japan, Australia and other developed economies outside the US. | |
| Large cap | 73% | 20.3% | Big multinationals — Nestlé, Toyota, ASML and the like. |
| Mid cap | 18% | 5.0% | Mid-sized developed-world companies. |
| Small cap | 9% | 2.5% | Often missing from cheaper international funds. |
| Emerging markets | 10.0% | Faster-growing, less-established markets — China, India, Taiwan, Brazil and others. | |
| Large cap | 77% | 7.7% | TSMC, Tencent, Samsung and other EM giants. |
| Mid cap | 16% | 1.6% | Mid-sized emerging-market companies. |
| Small cap | 7% | 0.7% | The hardest slice to buy cheaply. |
| Whole market, by company size | Large 72.2% · Mid 18.4% · Small 9.4% of the world | ||
Piecing it together across accounts
For anyone who chooses to match this market-cap weighting, the specific funds each account offers shape how it's approximated. A few common combinations people use:
The simplest
- 62% US total market
- 38% total international
A US total-market fund plus a total-international fund. Done.
Splitting international
- 62.2% US total market
- 27.8% developed ex-US
- 10.0% emerging markets
For accounts that only carry developed-international and emerging funds separately.
Only an S&P 500 fund?
- 49.8% of the world — that's all an S&P 500 fund covers (the largest US companies)
- add 12.4% for the rest of the US market (an "extended-market" fund)
- add 37.8% international
Fill the two gaps in other accounts and the pieces reassemble into the whole world.
Building blocks: which fund covers which slice
Common, low-cost index funds that track each slice, grouped by provider so you can match them to whatever your accounts offer. These describe the market — they are examples, not recommendations, and the slices overlap (a total-market fund already contains its large, mid, and small pieces).
| Slice of the market | ≈ Share of world | Example funds (by provider) |
|---|---|---|
| Entire world (one fund) | 100.0% | Vanguard VT / VTWAX iShares ACWI (large + mid only) SPDR SPGM |
| US — total market (large + mid + small) | 62.2% | Vanguard VTI / VTSAX iShares ITOT Schwab SCHB / SWTSX Fidelity FSKAX / FZROX |
| US — the S&P 500 (large & mega cap) | 49.8% | Vanguard VOO / VFIAX iShares IVV SPDR SPY Fidelity FXAIX Schwab SWPPX |
| US — extended market (completes an S&P 500 fund) | 12.4% | Vanguard VXF / VEXAX Fidelity FSMAX |
| International — total (developed ex-US + emerging) | 37.8% | Vanguard VXUS / VTIAX iShares IXUS Fidelity FTIHX |
| Developed markets ex-US | 27.8% | Vanguard VEA / VTMGX iShares IEFA Schwab SCHF / SWISX Fidelity FSPSX |
| Emerging markets | 10.0% | Vanguard VWO / VEMAX iShares IEMG Schwab SCHE Fidelity FPADX |
How to read this — and what it doesn't say
- Weights drift slowly. The US-vs-rest split moves on the order of a percentage point or two over a year, not a day. That's why this page refreshes monthly, not live — daily precision here would be false precision.
- Region weights are the sourced numbers. They come from the FTSE Global All Cap Index factsheet, cross-checked against VT. The large / mid / small splits within each region come from the index's size-band definitions, which are structural and barely move.
- It's float-adjusted and market-cap-weighted. Slices are sized by the value of shares actually available to public investors — the same rule a global index fund follows.
- This is the market's shape, not a recommendation. Owning the world in cap weight is one well-supported approach; it is not the only one, and nothing here is personalized financial advice. Whether a global-market weighting suits your situation is your call.
Sources & method
Region weights are refreshed monthly from the first source; the second is used to cross-check. Cap-tier splits follow the index's published size-band methodology.
Data
- FTSE Global All Cap Index — Factsheet, FTSE Russell (LSEG). Monthly factsheet for the whole-world index Vanguard's VT tracks (© LSEG; reproduction of the factsheet requires permission). Only its headline region weights and constituent count are cited here, with attribution; the site records the as-at month it used.
- Total World Stock ETF (VT) — Portfolio composition, The Vanguard Group. Region allocations used to cross-check and seed the market-cap breakdown.
Educational use only, not financial advice. Every figure traces back to the sources above or to the inputs you set — the full method and the source code are public.