Consumer Staples · Shares inside your ETFs
Unilever in your ETF: how much you own, and the share price
Unilever is one of the FTSE 100‘s five largest companies, and in December 2025 it spun off its ice cream business as a separate company. Here’s its share price, what the demerger meant for shareholders and index funds, and how much of it sits inside the ETFs UK investors can buy.
By The Off-Duty Economist Last reviewed Fund holdings to 31 August 2026
The short version
- Unilever was the fifth-largest holding in every FTSE 100 ETF at the end of August 2026, at about 3.9%. So £1,000 in a FTSE 100 ETF puts about £39 into Unilever.
- A world consumer staples ETF holds about 3.1%, and a world ETF about 0.12% to 0.15%.
- In December 2025 Unilever demerged The Magnum Ice Cream Company: shareholders received one Magnum share for every five Unilever shares, and index funds did too.
- From the end of 2016 to the end of 2025, Unilever's share price and the FTSE 100 ended almost level, before dividends.
Part of Shares inside your ETFs, which covers one company from each of the 11 stock market sectors. New to funds? Start with what an ETF is.
- 3.9%of a FTSE 100 ETF is Unilever, its fifth-largest holding (31 August 2026)
- £39of every £1,000 in a FTSE 100 ETF goes into Unilever
- 1 for 5Magnum Ice Cream shares received for Unilever shares in the December 2025 demerger
Unilever's share price today
Unilever’s shares trade on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker ULVR, so the price is in pence. They also trade in Amsterdam, and in New York as American Depositary Shares.
Unilever (ULVR) live share price
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Which ETFs hold Unilever?
Every fund that tracks the UK stock market holds Unilever, and so does every world consumer staples fund. The table shows eight ETFs that UK investors can buy on the London Stock Exchange, with Unilever’s share of each.
It’s a list of which funds hold Unilever and how much, not a list of funds to buy. Each fund’s name links to its full profile.
| Fund | What it tracks | London tickers | Unilever's share | Unilever in every £1,000 | Yearly charge | Fund size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS MSCI United Kingdom UCITS ETF GBP acc | MSCI United Kingdom (large and mid-sized UK companies) | UC64 | 4.33% | £43 | 0.20% | £1.8bn |
| HSBC FTSE 100 UCITS ETF | FTSE 100 | HUKX | 3.92% | £39 | 0.07% | £861m |
| iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (Dist) | FTSE 100 | ISF | 3.87% | £39 | 0.07% | £16.2bn |
| Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (GBP) Distributing | FTSE 100 | VUKE | 3.85% | £38 | 0.09% | £4.6bn |
| State Street SPDR MSCI World Consumer Staples UCITS ETF | Consumer staples companies in the MSCI World | WCOS | 3.11% | £31 | 0.30% | £122m |
| Xtrackers MSCI World Consumer Staples UCITS ETF 1C | Consumer staples companies in the MSCI World | XWCS / XDWS | 3.11% | £31 | 0.25% | £711m |
| iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) | MSCI World (developed markets) | SWDA / IWDA | 0.15% | £2 | 0.20% | £112.8bn |
| Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Distributing | FTSE All-World (developed and emerging markets) | VWRL / VWRD | 0.12% | £1 | 0.14% | £20.5bn |
Holdings are as at 31 August 2026 (28 August for HSBC FTSE 100). The iShares Core MSCI World figure is from iShares’ full holdings list on 13 October 2026, and the Vanguard FTSE All-World figure from Vanguard’s holdings data at 31 August 2026. The accumulating versions of the iShares and Vanguard FTSE 100 funds (tickers CUKX and VUKG) hold the same. Fund sizes are in pounds. Where a fund has two London tickers, the first is priced in pounds or pence and the second in US dollars; the SPDR fund has a dollar line only.
Unilever is about 4% of a FTSE 100 ETF and 3% of a world consumer staples ETF
Unilever's share of each fund's holdings
- UK index funds
- World consumer staples funds
- Global index funds
Source: fund holdings from justETF, plus fund providers' full holdings lists where shown in the sources, consulted 14 October 2026. Holdings as at 31 August 2026 (28 August for HSBC FTSE 100, 13 October for iShares Core MSCI World). Weights change every day. Chart: Invest in ETFs.
Show the data
| Fund (ticker) | Unilever's share | In every £1,000 | Holdings as at |
|---|---|---|---|
| UBS MSCI UK (UC64) | 4.33% | £43 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| HSBC FTSE 100 (HUKX) | 3.92% | £39 | 28 Aug 2026 |
| iShares Core FTSE 100 (ISF) | 3.87% | £39 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Vanguard FTSE 100 (VUKE) | 3.85% | £38 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| SPDR World Consumer Staples (WCOS) | 3.11% | £31 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| Xtrackers World Consumer Staples (XWCS) | 3.11% | £31 | 31 Aug 2026 |
| iShares Core MSCI World (SWDA) | 0.15% | £2 | 13 Oct 2026 |
| Vanguard FTSE All-World (VWRL) | 0.12% | £1 | 31 Aug 2026 |
A world consumer staples fund holds just under 90 companies, and seven of them were bigger than Unilever, so its slice of the fund is a little smaller than in a FTSE 100 ETF.
The Magnum ice cream demerger
A demerger is when a company splits off part of its business as a separate listed company and hands the new shares to its own shareholders. Unilever did this with its ice cream business, which became The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
- 6 December 2025: the demerger took effect. Shareholders received one Magnum share for every five Unilever shares they held.
- 8 December 2025: Magnum shares began trading under the ticker MICC in Amsterdam, London and New York. The company is incorporated and headquartered in the Netherlands.
- 9 December 2025: Unilever consolidated its shares, giving shareholders 8 new Unilever shares for every 9 they held.
Unilever kept a 19.85% stake in Magnum. Index funds that held Unilever received Magnum shares like any other shareholder, so a world fund now holds both. In the iShares Core MSCI World ETF on 13 October 2026, Magnum was 0.01% of the fund, against 0.15% for Unilever.
Inside an ETF this all happened automatically. If you held Unilever shares directly, you received the Magnum shares in your own account, and any fractions of a share were sold and paid to you in cash.
Unilever's share price against the FTSE 100
Unilever publishes how its London share price has moved against the FTSE 100, adjusted for corporate actions including the demerger. These figures leave out dividends, so they understate what shareholders actually received.
From 2016 to 2025, Unilever's share price and the FTSE 100 ended almost level, not counting dividends
Share price at the end of each year, with the end of 2016 = 100, not counting dividends: Unilever (London) against the FTSE 100
- Unilever share price
- FTSE 100
Source: Unilever, financial charts 2016–2025 (12 March 2026), “Share price versus market index”: Unilever's London share price, adjusted for corporate actions including the ice cream demerger, against the FTSE 100, with 2016 = 100. Share prices only: dividends aren't included, so this isn't total return. Chart: Invest in ETFs.
Show the data
| Period | Unilever share price | FTSE 100 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2016 to end of 2017 | 125 | 108 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2018 | 125 | 94 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2019 | 132 | 106 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2020 | 133 | 90 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2021 | 120 | 103 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2022 | 127 | 104 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2023 | 115 | 108 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2024 | 138 | 114 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
| End of 2016 to end of 2025 | 138 | 139 | Unilever financial charts 2016-2025 |
Unilever’s share price was well ahead of the FTSE 100 for most of the period, but by the end of 2025 the two were almost level: both about 38% to 39% higher than at the end of 2016. In its 2025 annual report, Unilever’s chair said its total shareholder return over the two years to the end of 2025 was 26.8%. Past returns don’t tell you what will happen next.
Unilever in consumer staples funds
Under GICS, the sector system MSCI and S&P use, Unilever is in the Consumer Staples sector, as a personal care products company. It was the eighth-largest company in the MSCI World Consumer Staples Index on 30 September 2026, at 3.06%.
A consumer staples fund holds companies from one sector only, so it’s more concentrated than a broad index fund and can rise and fall further.
Unilever and the Consumer Staples sector
Consumer Staples covers everyday essentials whose sales tend to hold up in hard times: food, drink, tobacco, household and personal products, and the supermarkets and chemists that sell them. It’s a much bigger part of the UK market than of others: 13.8% of a FTSE 100 ETF on 13 October 2026, against 4.9% of a world ETF and 4.6% of an S&P 500 ETF, using GICS sectors.
Unilever is one company in our series picking one share from each of the 11 stock market sectors. See all 11 sectors and what each one covers.
Unilever shares or an ETF that holds Unilever?
You can own Unilever directly, by buying its shares, or indirectly, through a fund. Here’s how the two compare for a UK investor, using a FTSE 100 ETF as the example.
| Unilever shares | A FTSE 100 ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| What you own | Part of one company | Part of about 100 UK companies, with Unilever about 4% |
| If Unilever's shares fell by a fifth | Your holding falls by a fifth | Unilever's fall alone takes about 0.8% off the fund |
| Where it trades | London Stock Exchange, in pence | London Stock Exchange, in pounds or pence |
| Stamp duty | 0.5% stamp duty reserve tax when you buy UK shares electronically | None on ETFs (what an ETF costs) |
| Demergers and other company events | New shares arrive in your account, and you decide what to do with them | The fund manager deals with them |
| In a stocks and shares ISA | Yes | Yes |
| Yearly cost of holding | No fund charge; platform fees may apply | From 0.07% a year, plus platform fees |
Common questions
- What happened to Unilever’s ice cream business?
- It was demerged as The Magnum Ice Cream Company on 6 December 2025. Unilever shareholders received one Magnum share for every five Unilever shares, and Magnum shares began trading on 8 December.
- Why do I have fewer Unilever shares than before?
- On 9 December 2025, straight after the demerger, Unilever consolidated its shares: 8 new shares for every 9 held.
- Does my ETF hold Magnum shares?
- World funds received Magnum shares in the demerger like any other shareholder. In the iShares Core MSCI World ETF, Magnum was 0.01% of the fund on 13 October 2026.
- Which ETFs hold the most Unilever?
- Of the funds above, the UK funds: about 3.9% to 4.3% at the end of August 2026. World consumer staples funds hold about 3.1%, and a world fund about 0.12% to 0.15%.
- Can Unilever shares go in an ISA?
- Yes. Shares count for a stocks and shares ISA if they’re officially listed on a recognised stock exchange, and the London Stock Exchange is one. The ETFs in the table can go in an ISA too.
Before you rely on this page
Sources
- justETF fund profiles for the funds in the table, linked from each fund's name. Consulted 14 October 2026; holdings as at the dates given. Plus iShares' full holdings list for the Core MSCI World ETF (13 October 2026) and Vanguard's holdings data for the FTSE All-World ETF (31 August 2026).
- Unilever PLC, Annual Report on Form 20-F 2025 (listings, demerger, retained stake), Annual Report and Accounts 2025 (chair's statement), financial charts 2016–2025, demerger FAQs, and announcements of 5 December and 8 December 2025 (demerger completed, share consolidation)
- London Stock Exchange, Unilever PLC company page, 14 October 2026
- MSCI, MSCI World Consumer Staples Index factsheet, 30 September 2026
- Sector weights of the iShares Core S&P 500, Core MSCI World and Core FTSE 100 ETFs, BlackRock, as of 13 October 2026
- HM Revenue & Customs, stocks and shares investments for ISA managers; GOV.UK, tax when you buy shares
Sources checked 14 October 2026. Live prices from TradingView.