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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and EWJ +18.1%.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or EWJ?

ACWI is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 0% of EWJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWI vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWI returned +13.4% to EWJ's +18.1%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $33.0bn for iShares MSCI ACWI ETF and $23.9bn for iShares MSCI Japan ETF.

ACWI on its own →EWJ on its own →

At a glance

+13.4%

ACWI total return, 1 year

+18.1%

EWJ total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWI expense ratio

0.49%

EWJ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

ACWI costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.7 points; ACWI is 1.4 times larger.

ACWI vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
Return
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
Total return, 1 year	+13.4%	+18.1%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
Below its high		4.4%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI	MSCI Japan Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.49%
Net assets	$33.0bn	$23.9bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWI	EWJ
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.9%	29.5%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026 · 968 weekly returns

ACWI EWJ

Return

Total return edge ACWI +333.1% +155.1%

Annualized edge ACWI +8.2% +5.2%

Price return edge ACWI +204.7% +84.1%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 18.5% 18.3%

Max drawdown edge EWJ −55.3% −47.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge ACWI 0.44 0.29

Sortino edge ACWI 0.62 0.40

Calmar edge ACWI 0.15 0.11

Reading

ACWI returned more: +333.1% to +155.1%. ACWI and EWJ swung about the same: 18.5% and 18.3%. EWJ fell less at its worst: −47.0% to −55.3%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWI vs EWJ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	EWJ	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+333.1%	+155.1%	ACWI	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.2%	+5.2%	ACWI	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+204.7%	+84.1%	ACWI	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	18.5%	18.3%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.2%	13.2%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−55.3%	−47.0%	EWJ	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.44	0.29	ACWI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.62	0.40	ACWI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.15	0.11	ACWI	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 968 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ACWI and EWJ hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWI EWJ

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.22% 4.40%

TOYOTA MOTOR 0.18% 3.59%

ADVANTEST 0.15% 3.03%

HITACHI 0.15% 3.03%

RECRUIT HOLDINGS LTD 0.15% 3.03%

SONY GROUP 0.15% 2.89%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 0.14% 2.83%

TOKYO ELECTRON 0.13% 2.55%

MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP 0.11% 2.15%

SOFTBANK GROUP CORP 0.10% 2.03%

TOKIO MARINE HOLDINGS 0.10% 1.90%

KEYENCE 0.09% 1.82%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ACWI

APPLE 4.97%

NVIDIA 4.89%

MICROSOFT 3.66%

AMAZON.COM INC 2.39%

ALPHABET CLASS A 1.83%

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 1.77%

BROADCOM INC 1.51%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.44%

Only in EWJ

JPY/USD 0.00%

TOPIX INDEX DEC 26 0.00%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI Tracks the MSCI Japan

Total return, 1 year +13.4% +18.1%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +14.3% (ACWX)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +3.8 pts vs ACWX

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.49%

Already in the S&P 500 60.9% 0.0%

Holdings 2197 169

Net assets $33.0bn $23.9bn

ACWI and EWJ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-DD82EE5525

ACWI and EWJ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. ACWI follows MSCI ACWI and EWJ follows MSCI Japan Index.
Holdings in common. 5% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ACWI returned +13.4% and EWJ +18.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.7 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

ACWI

ACWI tracks the MSCI ACWI. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 61% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,197 positions, with the top ten at 24.9%.

EWJ

EWJ tracks the MSCI Japan. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 169 positions, with the top ten at 29.5%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or EWJ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and EWJ +18.1%.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or EWJ?: ACWI is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWI and EWJ overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 0% of EWJ by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs AVDV ACWI vs VGK ACWI vs EWT ACWI vs EWZ EWJ vs VT EWJ vs URTH EWJ vs IDEV EWJ vs VGK

Where to next

ACWI on its own →EWJ on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →ACWI dividend history →ACWI holdings →EWJ dividend history →EWJ holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

ACWI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWI ↗

EWJ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWJ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWJ ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, ACWI against EWJ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/acwi-vs-ewj

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.