The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Vanguard International Shares (VGS) in 2015?
Vanguard's developed-world fund launched in late 2014 and spent 2015 looking unremarkable. It quietly handed Australian investors the entire US megacap decade — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and all — without a single stock pick.
$100 on 2015-01-01, worth today
A$396
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Vanguard International Shares (VGS) bought at 2015's open (A$39.65) is worth A$396 — 3.96×.
total return · dividends reinvested · AUD
How much would $100 of Vanguard International Shares (VGS) bought in 2015 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| A$100 | A$396 | 3.96× |
| A$1,000 | A$3,956 | 3.96× |
| A$10,000 | A$39,565 | 3.96× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did Vanguard International Shares (VGS) do in 2015?
Opened
A$39.65
2015-01-01
Peaked
A$46.61
2015-10-29
Bottomed
A$37.81
2015-01-15
Closed
A$44.11
2015-12-30
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
A$59,800 deployed as $100 a week from 2015-01-01, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | A$236,596 |
| Steady weekly buys | A$136,356 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | A$106,563 |
| Traded it perfectly | A$137,023 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
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