Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or EEM?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and EEM +16.3%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX or EEM?

ACWX is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do ACWX and EEM overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWX vs EEM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWX returned +14.3% to EEM's +16.3%; 31% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $17.9bn for iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF and $29.1bn for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF.

ACWX on its own →EEM on its own →

At a glance

+14.3%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+16.3%

EEM total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.72%

EEM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

ACWX costs 0.40 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; EEM is 1.6 times larger.

ACWX vs EEM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	EEM
Return
Measure	ACWX	EEM
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+16.3%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWX	EEM
Below its high	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026	10.8%, high on Jun 22, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWX	EEM
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	MSCI Emerging Markets Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWX	EEM
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.72%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$17.9bn	$29.1bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWX	EEM
Holdings in common	31%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	15.6%	37.2%

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

Risk and return

Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026 · 967 weekly returns

ACWX EEM

Return

Total return edge ACWX +129.8% +96.8%

Annualized edge ACWX +4.6% +3.7%

Price return edge ACWX +42.8% +33.5%

Risk

Volatility edge ACWX 19.8% 23.4%

Max drawdown edge ACWX (slight) −59.4% −61.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge ACWX 0.25 0.21

Sortino edge ACWX 0.35 0.30

Calmar edge ACWX 0.08 0.06

Reading

ACWX returned more: +129.8% to +96.8%. ACWX swung less: 19.8% to 23.4%. ACWX fell slightly less at its worst: −59.4% to −61.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWX vs EEM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	EEM	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+129.8%	+96.8%	ACWX	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+4.6%	+3.7%	ACWX	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+42.8%	+33.5%	ACWX	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.8%	23.4%	ACWX	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.4%	16.4%	ACWX	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−59.4%	−61.2%	ACWX (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.25	0.21	ACWX	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.35	0.30	ACWX	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	0.06	ACWX	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 967 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

31%

By the books each fund has filed, ACWX and EEM hold 31% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

31% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWX EEM

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 5.07% 15.98%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.19% 6.88%

SK HYNIX 1.56% 4.91%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.85% 2.64%

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 0.59% 1.82%

MEDIATEK 0.49% 1.54%

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK CORP H 0.30% 0.94%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS NON VOTING PRE 0.30% 0.91%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY 0.27% 0.82%

DELTA ELECTRONICS 0.25% 0.79%

HDFC BANK 0.22% 0.72%

ICICI BANK 0.20% 0.68%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ACWX

ASML HOLDING 1.77%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.95%

SHELL 0.84%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.81%

NOVARTIS AG 0.80%

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.79%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.72%

NESTLE SA 0.72%

Only in EEM

TMBTHANACHART BANK NON-VOTING DR P 0.02%

ASTOR ENERJI A.S. 0.01%

AMLOGIC (SHANGHAI) LTD A 0.00%

ANGEL YEAST LTD A 0.00%

BANK OF CHANGSHA LTD A 0.00%

BANK OF SUZHOU LTD A 0.00%

BEIJING NEW BUILDING MATERIALS PUB 0.00%

CHINA MERCHANTS EXPRESSWAY NETWORK 0.00%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWX iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF EEM iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. Tracks an index of Emerging markets

Total return, 1 year +14.3% +16.3%

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.72%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 1939 1186

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $17.9bn $29.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-99AF19C6B1

ACWX and EEM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. ACWX follows MSCI ACWI ex USA Index and EEM follows MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Holdings in common. 31% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ACWX returned +14.3% and EEM +16.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

ACWX

ACWX tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S.. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% 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 1,939 positions, with the top ten at 15.6%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

EEM

EEM tracks an index of Emerging markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.72% 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 1,186 positions, with the top ten at 37.2%. It sat 10.8% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or EEM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and EEM +16.3%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX or EEM?: ACWX is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWX and EEM overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 0% of EEM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWX vs AVEM ACWX vs EMXC ACWX vs VWO ACWX vs IEMG EEM vs FENI EEM vs IXUS EEM vs VEU EEM vs SCHF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWX ↗

EEM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EEM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EEM ↗

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, ACWX against EEM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/acwx-vs-eem

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