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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX or IAU?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWX vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

ACWX is an equity index fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWX returned +14.3% against +2.7%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about ACWX and IAU

Net assets: $17.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

ACWX on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+14.3%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.6 points; IAU is 3.4 times larger.

ACWX vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IAU
Return
Measure	ACWX	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWX	IAU
Below its high	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWX	IAU
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	ACWX	IAU
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$17.9bn	$60.3bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWX	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	15.6%

Method

Risk and return

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

ACWX IAU

Return

Total return edge IAU +129.8% +311.0%

Annualized edge IAU +4.6% +7.9%

Price return edge IAU +42.8% +311.0%

Risk

Volatility edge IAU 19.8% 17.0%

Max drawdown edge IAU −59.4% −44.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.25 0.45

Sortino edge IAU 0.35 0.66

Calmar edge IAU 0.08 0.18

Reading

IAU returned more: +311.0% to +129.8%. IAU swung less: 17.0% to 19.8%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −59.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWX vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IAU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+129.8%	+311.0%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+4.6%	+7.9%	IAU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+42.8%	+311.0%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.8%	17.0%	IAU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.4%	11.6%	IAU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−59.4%	−44.4%	IAU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.25	0.45	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.35	0.66	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	0.18	IAU	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.

Side by side

ACWX iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +14.3% +2.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.5% (GLD)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.2 pts vs GLD

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.25%

Holdings 1939 not counted

Net assets, ACWX as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $17.9bn $60.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-30F74D0065

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

What each follows. ACWX follows MSCI ACWI ex USA Index and IAU follows Gold.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ACWX returned +14.3% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.6 points.
Size. ACWX has $17.9bn in net assets and IAU $60.3bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); IAU is 3.4 times larger.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

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.

IAU

Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX or IAU?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

ACWX vs GLDM ACWX vs SLV ACWX vs GLD ACWX vs USO FENI vs IAU IAU vs IXUS IAU vs VEU IAU vs SCHF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWX ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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