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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and IEFA +12.3%.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or IEFA?

IEFA is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWI vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWI returned +13.4% to IEFA's +12.3%; 21% 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 $190.4bn for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.

ACWI on its own →IEFA on its own →

At a glance

+13.4%

ACWI total return, 1 year

+12.3%

IEFA total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWI expense ratio

0.07%

IEFA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEFA costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; IEFA is 5.8 times larger.

ACWI vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
Return
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
Total return, 1 year	+13.4%	+12.3%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
Below its high		4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI	MSCI EAFE IMI Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.07%
Net assets	$33.0bn	$190.4bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWI	IEFA
Holdings in common	21%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.9%	12.3%

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

Risk and return

Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returns

ACWI IEFA

Return

Total return edge ACWI +342.4% +199.1%

Annualized edge ACWI +11.2% +8.1%

Price return edge ACWI +235.9% +100.2%

Risk

Volatility edge ACWI (slight) 15.4% 16.2%

Max drawdown edge ACWI (slight) −32.1% −34.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge ACWI 0.65 0.45

Sortino edge ACWI 0.93 0.64

Calmar edge ACWI 0.35 0.24

Reading

ACWI returned more: +342.4% to +199.1%. ACWI swung slightly less: 15.4% to 16.2%. ACWI fell slightly less at its worst: −32.1% to −34.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWI vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	IEFA	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+342.4%	+199.1%	ACWI	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+11.2%	+8.1%	ACWI	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+235.9%	+100.2%	ACWI	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.4%	16.2%	ACWI (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.8%	11.5%	ACWI (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−32.1%	−34.1%	ACWI (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.65	0.45	ACWI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.93	0.64	ACWI	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.35	0.24	ACWI	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 729 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

21%

By the books each fund has filed, ACWI and IEFA hold 21% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

21% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWI IEFA

ASML HOLDING 0.62% 2.55%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.33% 1.36%

SHELL 0.30% 1.21%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.29% 1.18%

NOVARTIS AG 0.28% 1.14%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.25% 1.04%

NESTLE SA 0.25% 1.04%

SAP 0.23% 0.97%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.22% 0.92%

SIEMENS N AG 0.21% 0.86%

BHP GROUP LTD 0.20% 0.83%

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.19% 0.77%

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 IEFA

BAYCURRENT INC 0.04%

BLUESCOPE STEEL 0.04%

IMI PLC 0.04%

WEIR PLC 0.04%

ACCELLERON N AG 0.03%

ACKERMANS & VAN HAAREN NV 0.03%

AEDIFICA NV 0.03%

AL SYDBANK 0.03%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI Tracks the MSCI EAFE

Total return, 1 year +13.4% +12.3%

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

Gap to its benchmark not measured −2.0 pts vs ACWX

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.07%

Already in the S&P 500 60.9% 0.0%

Holdings 2197 2629

Net assets $33.0bn $190.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BD9267E453

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

What each follows. ACWI follows MSCI ACWI and IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index.
Holdings in common. 21% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Cost. ACWI charges 0.32% of assets a year and IEFA 0.07%, a gap of 0.25 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%.

IEFA

IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% 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 2,629 positions, with the top ten at 12.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or IEFA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and IEFA +12.3%.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or IEFA?: IEFA is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWI and IEFA overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 0% of IEFA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs VXUS ACWI vs VEA ACWI vs EFA ACWI vs SCHF IEFA vs VT IEFA vs URTH IDEV vs IEFA IEFA vs VGK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWI and IEFA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWI and IEFA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWI ↗

iShares page for IEFA ↗

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 IEFA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/acwi-vs-iefa

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