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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and GLD +2.5%.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or GLD?

ACWI is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWI vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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ACWI is an equity index fund and GLD a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWI returned +13.4% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $33.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, and $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares.

ACWI on its own →GLD on its own →

At a glance

+13.4%

ACWI total return, 1 year

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWI expense ratio

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

ACWI costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.9 points; GLD is 4.1 times larger.

ACWI vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	GLD
Return
Measure	ACWI	GLD
Total return, 1 year	+13.4%	+2.5%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWI	GLD
Below its high		24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWI	GLD
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	ACWI	GLD
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.40%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$32.6bn	$134.6bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWI	GLD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	61%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.9%

Method

Side by side

ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF GLD SPDR Gold Shares

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +13.4% +2.5%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.7% (IAU)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.2 pts vs IAU

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.40%

Holdings 2197 not counted

Net assets, ACWI as of Oct 28, 2026 and GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 $33.0bn $135.8bn

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

Alert

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%.

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or GLD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and GLD +2.5%.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or GLD?: ACWI is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs IAU ACWI vs BWET ACWI vs GLDM ACWI vs SLV GLD vs VT GLD vs URTH GLD vs IDEV GLD vs VGK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWI ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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

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