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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and XLU −3.0%.

Which is cheaper, ACWI or XLU?

XLU is cheaper, by 0.24 percentage points a year. That is about $24 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWI vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWI returned +13.4% to XLU's −3.0%; 1% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $33.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ETF, and $23.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF.

ACWI on its own →XLU on its own →

At a glance

+13.4%

ACWI total return, 1 year

−3.0%

XLU total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWI expense ratio

0.08%

XLU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLU costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.4 points; ACWI is 1.4 times larger.

ACWI vs XLU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWI	XLU
Return
Measure	ACWI	XLU
Total return, 1 year	+13.4%	−3.0%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWI	XLU
Below its high		9.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWI	XLU
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI	Utilities Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWI	XLU
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$32.6bn	$23.7bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWI	XLU
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.9%	58.7%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ACWI and XLU 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 XLU

NEXTERA ENERGY 0.17% 12.76%

SOUTHERN 0.10% 7.91%

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM N AG 0.09% 2.05%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 0.09% 7.22%

CONSTELLATION ENERGY CORP 0.08% 6.33%

AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER INC 0.07% 5.26%

DOMINION ENERGY 0.06% 4.26%

ENTERGY CORP 0.05% 3.75%

SEMPRA 0.05% 4.12%

VISTRA 0.05% 3.43%

XCEL ENERGY INC 0.05% 3.62%

CONSOLIDATED EDISON 0.04% 3.16%

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 XLU

PINNACLE WEST CAPITAL 0.96%

AES CORP 0.80%

XAU UTILITIES DEC26 0.01%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWI iShares MSCI ACWI ETF XLU State Street Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI Tracks an index of Utilities

Total return, 1 year +13.4% −3.0%

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.08%

Already in the S&P 500 60.9% 99.7%

Holdings 2197 32

Net assets, ACWI as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLU as of Oct 27, 2026 $33.0bn $23.9bn

ACWI and XLU 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%.

XLU

XLU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 32 positions, with the top ten at 58.7%. It sat 9.1% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWI or XLU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWI returned +13.4% and XLU −3.0%.
Which is cheaper, ACWI or XLU?: XLU is cheaper, by 0.24 percentage points a year. That is about $24 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWI and XLU overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 61% of ACWI and 100% of XLU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs VPU ACWI vs XLY ACWI vs XLI ACWI vs XLP VT vs XLU URTH vs XLU IDEV vs XLU VGK vs XLU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWI ↗

XLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLU 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.

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

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