Are ACWI and XBI in the same category?

ACWI is a stock ETF and XBI is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and XBI +41.2%.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or XBI?

ACWI is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWI vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWI returned +13.4% to XBI's +41.2%, and ACWI charges 0.32% to XBI's 0.35%.

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Net assets: $33.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, and $10.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF.

ACWI on its own →XBI on its own →

At a glance

+13.4%

ACWI total return, 1 year

+41.2%

XBI total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWI expense ratio

0.35%

XBI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

ACWI costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 27.8 points; ACWI is 3.2 times larger.

ACWI vs XBI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	XBI
Return
Measure	ACWI	XBI
Total return, 1 year	+13.4%	+41.2%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWI	XBI
Below its all-time high		8.9%, high on Feb 8, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	ACWI	XBI
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI	Biotech
Cost and size
Measure	ACWI	XBI
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$32.6bn	$10.2bn
Active share vs the S&P 500		98%
Holdings
Measure	ACWI	XBI
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.9%	18%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ACWI and XBI hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWI XBI

ABBVIE 0.49% 1.67%

AMGEN INC 0.23% 1.68%

GILEAD SCIENCES 0.19% 1.60%

VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS 0.13% 1.46%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS 0.08% 1.48%

NATERA 0.05% 1.82%

BIOGEN 0.04% 1.75%

ERSTE GROUP BANK AG 0.04% 0.11%

ALNYLAM PHARMACEUTICALS 0.03% 1.29%

REVOLUTION MEDICINES 0.03% 1.31%

INCYTE CORP 0.02% 1.35%

INSMED 0.02% 1.08%

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 XBI

MODERNA INC 2.24%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 1.86%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS INC 1.75%

SPYRE THERAPEUTICS INC 1.67%

EXELIXIS INC 1.64%

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC 1.62%

ORUKA THERAPEUTICS INC 1.53%

TG THERAPEUTICS INC 1.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF XBI State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Thematic ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI Biotech

Total return, 1 year +13.4% +41.2%

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 60.9% 13.2%

Holdings 2197 165

Net assets, ACWI as of Oct 28, 2026 and XBI as of Oct 27, 2026 $33.0bn $10.3bn

ACWI and XBI 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%.

XBI

By weight, 13% of XBI's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 18% of the fund across 165 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +41.2% with distributions reinvested. It sits 8.9% below its all-time high of Feb 8, 2021.

Questions people ask

Are ACWI and XBI in the same category?: ACWI is a stock ETF and XBI is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or XBI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and XBI +41.2%.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or XBI?: ACWI is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWI and XBI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 13% of XBI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs IBB ACWI vs REMX ACWI vs LYTE ACWI vs AIRR VT vs XBI URTH vs XBI IDEV vs XBI VGK vs XBI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWI ↗

XBI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XBI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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