XEQT Simulator
What if you had bought XEQT at launch and kept buying? This replays the fund's actual returns since August 2019 against your contributions, month by month.
What it would be worth
Total growth
Year by year, with XEQT's actual returns
| Year | XEQT return | Contributions | End value |
|---|
Assumptions and method
• Every figure is a total return: price change plus distributions reinvested, net of the 0.20% MER. Do not subtract fees again.
• Contributions land at the start of each month and compound at that year's monthly-equivalent rate.
• 2019 covers August 7 to December 31 only (XEQT's launch year), spread across those five months.
• 2026 is year-to-date through October 9, not a full year.
• Ignores trading commissions, taxes, and the small gap between NAV and market price.
• Past performance does not predict future returns.
How the XEQT simulator works
Pick a monthly amount, a start date, and an optional lump sum. The simulator walks forward month by month from your start date to October 2026, growing your balance at the monthly-equivalent of XEQT's actual return for each calendar year. Your 2022 contributions really did fall 10.93% that year, and your 2024 contributions really did ride a 24.67% year. Nothing is projected. It all happened.
The return series behind the tool is published data: iShares' official calendar-year total returns for 2021 through 2025, and dividend-adjusted market returns for the 2019 launch year, 2020, and 2026 year-to-date. As a check, $10,000 invested at launch replays to within a fraction of a percent of iShares' own hypothetical growth figure.
The actual annual returns used
| Year | XEQT total return | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 (Aug 7 - Dec 31) | 8.56% | Dividend-adjusted market data |
| 2020 | 11.87% | Dividend-adjusted market data |
| 2021 | 19.57% | iShares official fact sheet |
| 2022 | -10.93% | iShares official fact sheet |
| 2023 | 17.05% | iShares official fact sheet |
| 2024 | 24.67% | iShares official fact sheet |
| 2025 | 20.45% | iShares official fact sheet |
| 2026 (Jan 1 - Oct 9) | 17.08% | Dividend-adjusted market data, YTD |
What the history actually shows
The most useful thing this simulator does is make 2022 visceral. A $500-a-month plan started in January 2022 spent its first year underwater, which is exactly when most people quit. The same plan, left alone, was carried by 2023 and 2024 into solidly positive territory. That is the entire buy-and-hold argument in one table: the dip was real, and so was the recovery.
It also shows what consistency buys. The COVID dip buyer who started in March 2020, near the bottom, did well, but the unglamorous plan that started at launch in August 2019 and never tried to time anything did nearly as well per dollar contributed. Time in the market keeps beating timing the market, including in XEQT's own short history.
For the mechanics of staying consistent, dollar-cost averaging into XEQT walks through the strategy, and the year-by-year XEQT return history puts these figures in longer context.
History is not a forecast
This tool answers "what would have happened." For "what could happen," the XEQT calculator projects forward at a return you choose, and the XEQT vs VFV calculator compares two funds side by side. Use the simulator to calibrate your expectations, then use the projector to plan. Past performance does not predict future returns.
Common questions
What is the XEQT simulator?
It replays history. You enter a monthly contribution, a start date, and an optional lump sum, and the simulator grows it using XEQT's actual annual total returns from its August 2019 launch through October 2026. It shows what did happen to that money, not a projection of what might.
How accurate is the XEQT simulator?
The return figures are real published numbers: iShares' official calendar-year total returns for 2021 through 2025, dividend-adjusted market returns for 2019, 2020, and 2026 year-to-date. Within each year, contributions compound at that year's monthly-equivalent rate. It is a faithful replay, though real accounts would differ slightly on timing, price versus NAV, and fees.
Does the simulator include XEQT's dividends and distributions?
Yes. Every figure in the data series is a total return, which includes price changes plus all distributions reinvested. That is also why you should not subtract the MER on top: total returns are already net of the fund's 0.20% management expense ratio.
When did XEQT launch?
August 7, 2019. The 2019 figure in the simulator covers August 7 through December 31 only, about five months, and is labeled as a partial year. There is no earlier history to simulate because the fund did not exist.
Can I simulate a lump sum instead of monthly contributions?
Yes. Set the monthly contribution to zero and enter your lump sum in the initial investment field. The lump sum is invested in your start month and then rides every subsequent year's actual return through October 2026.
Why does the simulator stop at October 2026?
Because that is where verified data ends. The 2026 figure is year-to-date through October 9, not a full year, and it is labeled as such. The series will be extended as each calendar year completes.
How is this different from the XEQT calculator?
The simulator replays the past using returns that actually happened. The XEQT calculator projects the future using a return you choose. One answers 'what would have happened,' the other answers 'what could happen.' They are companions, not competitors.
Does past performance mean XEQT will keep returning this much?
No. The 2022 calendar year in the data is a reminder: XEQT lost 10.93% that year before gaining 17.05% in 2023 and 24.67% in 2024. The simulator's job is to show you the bumps as well as the climbs, so you go in with honest expectations.
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