Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or GDX?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +19.1% and GDX returned +40.2%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or GDX?

ACWI charges 0.32% a year and GDX charges 0.51%, so ACWI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do ACWI and GDX overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 11% of GDX by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.

Are ACWI and GDX the same kind of fund?

No. ACWI is an index ETF and GDX is a thematic ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

ACWI vs GDX: how they differ

Over the year GDX returned more, +40.2% against +19.1%, and ACWI charges 0.32% against 0.51%.

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF and VanEck Gold Miners ETF.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, ACWI and GDX hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Positions ACWI and GDX both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding	ACWI	GDX
NEWMONT CORPORATION	0.12%	10.42%
AGNICO EAGLE MINES LIMITED	0.10%	10.67%
BARRICK MINING CORPORATION	0.07%	7.95%
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.	0.06%	5.61%
Franco-Nevada Corporation	0.04%	4.89%
KINROSS GOLD CORPORATION	0.04%	4.40%
Pan American Silver Corp.	0.02%	2.98%
COEUR MINING, INC.	0.02%	2.38%
ALAMOS GOLD INC.	0.02%	1.89%
Lundin Gold Inc.	0.01%	1.02%
Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A.	0.01%	0.79%
Zijin Gold International Co Ltd	0.00%	0.79%

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in ACWI	Only in GDX
NVIDIA CORPORATION 4.89%	Anglogold Ashanti Plc 5.04%
APPLE INC. 4.02%	Gold Fields Ltd 4.07%
MICROSOFT CORPORATION 2.90%	Northern Star Resources Ltd 2.64%
AMAZON.COM, INC. 2.58%	Royal Gold Inc 1.95%
ALPHABET INC. 2.26%	Evolution Mining Ltd 1.65%
BROADCOM INC. 1.90%	Industrias Penoles SAB de CV 1.52%
ALPHABET INC. 1.87%	First Majestic Silver Corp 1.43%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Compa 1.73%	Endeavour Mining PLC 1.39%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.

ACWI and GDX on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF	GDX VanEck Gold Miners ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Thematic ETF
Issuer	iShares	VanEck
What it is	MSCI ACWI	Miners and metals
Total return, 1 year	+19.1%	+40.2%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+1.6 pts	+22.7 pts
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.51%
Already in the S&P 500	61.4%	11.0%
Holdings	2307	59

ACWI in plain words

ACWI is an index equity fund tracking the MSCI ACWI. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +19.1% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 61% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2307 positions, with the top ten at 24.6%.

GDX in plain words

By weight, 11% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 58% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 10, 2026. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 the fund returned +40.2% with distributions reinvested against +17.5% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 22.7 pts. It sits 16.2% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or GDX?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +19.1% and GDX returned +40.2%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or GDX?: ACWI charges 0.32% a year and GDX charges 0.51%, so ACWI is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWI and GDX overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 11% of GDX by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Are ACWI and GDX the same kind of fund?: No. ACWI is an index ETF and GDX is a thematic ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Other comparisons

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

ACWI against GDX, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, ACWI against GDX, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ACWI-GDX Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources