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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IEFA +12.3%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX 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 ACWX and IEFA overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWX vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWX returned +14.3% to IEFA's +12.3%; 59% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $17.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, and $190.4bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.

ACWX on its own →IEFA on its own →

At a glance

+14.3%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+12.3%

IEFA total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.07%

IEFA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEFA costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; IEFA is 10.6 times larger.

ACWX vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
Return
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+12.3%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
Below its high	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026	4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	MSCI EAFE IMI Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$17.9bn	$190.1bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWX	IEFA
Holdings in common	59%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	15.6%	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

ACWX IEFA

Return

Total return edge IEFA +169.1% +199.1%

Annualized edge IEFA (slight) +7.3% +8.1%

Price return edge IEFA +84.9% +100.2%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 15.9% 16.2%

Max drawdown edge Tie −34.2% −34.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IEFA (slight) 0.41 0.45

Sortino edge IEFA (slight) 0.57 0.64

Calmar edge IEFA 0.21 0.24

Reading

IEFA returned more: +199.1% to +169.1%. ACWX and IEFA swung about the same: 15.9% and 16.2%. ACWX and IEFA fell about the same at their worst: −34.2% and −34.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWX vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IEFA	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+169.1%	+199.1%	IEFA	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+7.3%	+8.1%	IEFA (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+84.9%	+100.2%	IEFA	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.9%	16.2%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.3%	11.5%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−34.2%	−34.1%	Tie	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.41	0.45	IEFA (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.57	0.64	IEFA (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.21	0.24	IEFA	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

59%

By the books each fund has filed, ACWX and IEFA hold 59% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

59% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWX IEFA

ASML HOLDING 1.77% 2.55%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.95% 1.36%

SHELL 0.84% 1.21%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.81% 1.18%

NOVARTIS AG 0.80% 1.14%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.72% 1.04%

NESTLE SA 0.72% 1.04%

SAP 0.67% 0.97%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.64% 0.92%

SIEMENS N AG 0.60% 0.86%

BHP GROUP LTD 0.58% 0.83%

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.53% 0.77%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ACWX

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 5.07%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.19%

SK HYNIX 1.56%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.85%

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.79%

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 0.59%

TORONTO DOMINION 0.58%

SHOPIFY SUBORDINATE VOTING CLASS A 0.56%

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%

AL SYDBANK 0.03%

ALS 0.03%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWX iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. Tracks the MSCI EAFE

Total return, 1 year +14.3% +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 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 1939 2629

Net assets, ACWX as of Oct 27, 2026 and IEFA as of Oct 28, 2026 $17.9bn $190.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-0D3123DC65

ACWX and IEFA are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. ACWX follows MSCI ACWI ex USA Index and IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ACWX returned +14.3% and IEFA +12.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.0 points.
Cost. ACWX 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

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.

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, ACWX or IEFA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IEFA +12.3%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX 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 ACWX and IEFA overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 0% of IEFA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWX vs VXUS ACWX vs VEA ACWX vs EFA ACWX vs SCHF DFAI vs IEFA DFIC vs IEFA IEFA vs IQLT CORO vs IEFA

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWX and IEFA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

iShares page for ACWX ↗

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

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