Best ETFs on MeDirect in 2025

How to select an ETF

There are a few criteria to consider when choosing an ETF. Here’s a recap of the most important ones:

• Tracks an index: Index investing, also known as passive investing, is a superior strategy for most people. Active funds, such as those offered by most banks, are much more expensive and offer lower returns than an ETF (or tracker) that simply tracks an index.
• Cheap: Most ETFs are already cheap compared to active funds. But if we have a choice between several ETFs that track the same index, we prefer the cheaper one with a lower total expense ratio (TER).
• Accumulating: Belgian investors should opt for accumulating ETFs to reduce taxes. As these funds reinvest their dividends directly, you don't have to pay the 30% dividend tax.
• Domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg: Investing in ETFs domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg is tax-efficient due to favourable treaties. These ETFs are identifiable by 'IE' or 'LU' in their ISIN codes.
• Diversified: Diversification minimises risk by spreading investments across different sectors and countries, reducing the impact of market downturns.

Why investing in ETFs with MeDirect

In August 2025, MeDirect has made ETF trading permanently free of brokerage fees. This isn’t a short-term promo, it’s part of their standard offer. Lower trading costs mean that more of your money stays invested, especially if you invest monthly.

Another plus for Belgian investors: MeDirect takes care of the taxes you're legally required to pay. That includes the transaction tax (TOB), the Reynders tax on capital gains from bonds, and any dividend tax. It makes tax time less of a headache.

The best ETFs on MeDirect

Based on the criteria above, we selected six ETFs:

iShares Core MSCI World (IE00B4L5Y983)

iShares Core MSCI World ETF is offered by iShares and is known by its ticker IWDA. It tracks the MSCI World index, an index that consists of about 1,500 stocks from 23 countries that economists qualify as "developed": United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia… Investing in IWDA means investing in a wide segment of the global economy. Many investors choose to simply invest in this one ETF as their entire portfolio.

Based on the historical data of the MSCI World index, the ETF has delivered an average annual return of 10.2% since 1979.

SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI (IE00B3YLTY66)

The SPDR MSCI ACWI IMI ETF is one of the most diversified ETFs on the market. This fund, launched by SPDR in 2011, tracks the performance of the MSCI All-Country World IMI index, abbreviated as MSCI ACWI IMI. The index is composed of more than 3,000 companies from 23 developed and 24 emerging markets countries worldwide. Because it's so diversified, this ETF is a great way to invest in the global stock market. Do note that it does not exclude companies based on sustainability criteria.

Based on the historical data of the MSCI ACWI IMI index, it has delivered an average annual return of 7.6% since 1994.

Vanguard FTSE All-World (IE00BK5BQT80)

The VWCE fund is very popular amongst the passive investing community. This fund, launched by Vanguard in 2019 to track the performance of the FTSE All-World Index, currently holds more than €11 billion under management. It's composed of approximately 3,700 stocks. And because it's so diversified, investors can find in VWCE a great way to follow the market and hold a significant portion of the world's company stocks such as Apple, Tesla, Alibaba, etc…

The index has returned approximately 8.9% annually since 2003:

iShares Core S&P 500 (IE00B5BMR087)

A popular ETF amongst investors is the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. It's one of the better S&P 500 ETFs, and is offered by iShares, one of the largest fund providers in the world. S&P 500 stands for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and as the name suggests, it seeks to track the performance of an index composed of the 500 largest American companies (even though it holds 503 companies at the moment). Through the S&P 500, you get exposure to a large section of the US economy as it covers 80% of the total American market capitalisation.

Based on the historical data of the S&P 500 index, the ETF has delivered an average return of 10.9% per year since 1992. That’s quite a significant return on your investment if you began your investment journey in the early 90's:

Amundi Nasdaq-100 (LU1829221024)

The Nasdaq-100 is made up of some of the biggest and most innovative US tech companies. It’s had strong long-term growth, but it comes with more ups and downs than a globally diversified fund. For example, if you had invested €10,000 in a Nasdaq-100 tracker at the start of 2007, it would have grown to around €140,000 by 2025. That’s an average return of about 16% per year, before fees and taxes.

If you want to add a bit of tech-heavy growth to your portfolio, the Amundi Nasdaq-100 ETF is one way to do it. Just keep in mind it works best as a small satellite next to a solid, diversified core. And remember: past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns.

Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond (IE00BG47KH54)

A straightforward way to add bonds to diversify your portfolio. This ETF tracks the Bloomberg Global Aggregate index, which includes thousands of high-quality bonds from governments, companies, and other issuers across the world. The currency risk is hedged to euros, so your bond investments aren’t bouncing around with exchange rate movements.

The accumulating version quietly reinvests the income. It’s a solid match for a global equity ETF, helping to reduce the ups and downs of your portfolio. It adds stability, brings more diversification, and gives you something to rebalance around. It's low-cost and fits neatly into a long-term plan.

How to buy an ETF on MeDirect step by step

1. Search the ISIN. Copy the ISIN from our list and paste it into MeDirect’s search. This way, you’re sure you’re looking at the right fund.
2. Open the factsheet or KID. Double-check that it’s accumulating, tracks the right index, is domiciled in Ireland or Luxembourg, and look at the ongoing charges (TER).
3. Check taxes. Before placing your order, see what MeDirect shows for the transaction tax (TOB) and any other withholdings.
4. Place your order. Most investors use a market order for ETFs, as long as you’re trading during the main hours of the exchange where the ETF is listed.
5. Do it every month. Regular investing beats trying to time the market. Set a reminder, or automate it if you can.

Read our review of MeDirect if you want to learn more about the pros and cons of investing through them. We also compared MeDirect to the other brokers in Belgium.

The challenges of investing in ETFs through MeDirect

When you manage your own investments through a broker, you're in charge of everything. That gives you flexibility, but it also means more work. Here are some of the challenges we ran into when doing it ourselves:

• You have to build your portfolio yourself. That means figuring out the right mix of ETFs that fits your goals and your risk tolerance.
• You need to do your homework. Understanding how to invest in ETFs takes time. And the details matter, especially when taxes are involved such as the new capital gains tax being introduced in 2026.
• It’s a monthly task. You need to transfer money to your broker and place the right orders each month.
• You can’t invest every euro. MeDirect doesn't support fractional shares. So if you invest monthly, you’ll often end up with leftover cash sitting in your account.
• Rebalancing is on you. Got several ETFs? You’ll need to decide when and how to rebalance them. Quarterly? Annually? And what if markets move sharply?
• Tracking your portfolio takes effort. Many investors build a spreadsheet just to keep everything organised.
• Taxes are tricky. TOB, Reynders tax, withholding tax… it can get complicated, and the rules change often.
• You need to stay disciplined. It’s one thing to set up your portfolio. It’s another to stick with it when markets drop.
• Brokers are built for trading. Most brokers earn money when you trade. So they design their platforms to encourage buying and selling. Even MeDirect, while great for ETFs, still charges €7 per stock trade.

Curvo: an easier alternative to MeDirect

We tried investing through brokers like MeDirect. And while it works, we quickly realised how much time, effort and knowledge it takes to get it right. So we built Curvo to take a different approach: the hard stuff is handled for you.

A portfolio that fits you

You don’t have to choose from thousands of ETFs. When you invest through Curvo, you get a portfolio built for your goals and your risk tolerance. Each portfolio is made up of globally diversified index funds, so you're invested in thousands of companies across the world. It’s one of the best ways to grow your savings over the long term.

Automated investing

With a monthly direct debit, your money is invested automatically. No need to log in every month or figure out what to buy. You can set it up once and focus on the rest of your life.

Built for your future

We believe investing should be simple, especially for our generation. It’s one of the few tools we have to build wealth over time and prepare for what’s ahead. That’s why we’re building Curvo: to make smart investing accessible to everyone.

Find out how Curvo works.

Summary

Choosing the right ETFs for your portfolio is crucial for successful long-term investing. Remember to look for ETFs that track broad market indices, keep costs low, and are tax-efficient for Belgian investors. The ETFs we've highlighted on MeDirect, from the globally diversified IWDA to a bond ETF, offer solid building blocks for your investment journey.

While MeDirect provides access to these quality ETFs at no cost, managing your own portfolio requires time, knowledge, and discipline. If you want a simpler approach, consider Curvo. We'll handle the selection of funds, rebalancing, and tax optimisation, letting you focus on what matters most: consistently investing for your future.

Whatever path you choose, remember that consistent, long-term investing in low-cost ETFs is key to building wealth.