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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IEMG +15.3%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX or IEMG?

IEMG is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWX vs IEMG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWX returned +14.3% to IEMG's +15.3%; 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 $150.4bn for iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF.

ACWX on its own →IEMG on its own →

At a glance

+14.3%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+15.3%

IEMG total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.09%

IEMG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEMG costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; IEMG is 8.4 times larger.

ACWX vs IEMG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
Return
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+15.3%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
Below its high	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026	10.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI)
Cost and size
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$17.9bn	$150.4bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWX	IEMG
Holdings in common	31%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	15.6%	32.7%

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

Risk and return

Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returns

ACWX IEMG

Return

Total return edge ACWX +169.1% +120.7%

Annualized edge ACWX +7.3% +5.8%

Price return edge ACWX +84.9% +56.0%

Risk

Volatility edge ACWX 15.9% 18.2%

Max drawdown edge ACWX (slight) −34.2% −37.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge ACWX 0.41 0.30

Sortino edge ACWX 0.57 0.42

Calmar edge ACWX 0.21 0.16

Reading

ACWX returned more: +169.1% to +120.7%. ACWX swung less: 15.9% to 18.2%. ACWX fell slightly less at its worst: −34.2% to −37.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWX vs IEMG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	IEMG	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+169.1%	+120.7%	ACWX	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+7.3%	+5.8%	ACWX	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+84.9%	+56.0%	ACWX	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.9%	18.2%	ACWX	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.3%	13.0%	ACWX	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−34.2%	−37.1%	ACWX (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.41	0.30	ACWX	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.57	0.42	ACWX	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.21	0.16	ACWX	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

31%

By the books each fund has filed, ACWX and IEMG 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 IEMG

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 5.07% 14.03%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.19% 6.05%

SK HYNIX 1.56% 4.31%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.85% 2.32%

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 0.59% 1.60%

MEDIATEK 0.49% 1.36%

CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK CORP H 0.30% 0.83%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS NON VOTING PRE 0.30% 0.80%

HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY 0.27% 0.72%

DELTA ELECTRONICS 0.25% 0.70%

HDFC BANK 0.22% 0.63%

ICICI BANK 0.20% 0.60%

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 IEMG

TAIWAN UNION TECHNOLOGY 0.08%

KINSUS INTERCONNECT TECHNOLOGY COR 0.07%

NAN YA PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD CORP 0.07%

POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTUR 0.06%

SAMSUNG E&A LTD 0.06%

TRIPOD TECHNOLOGY 0.06%

AUO 0.05%

COFORGE 0.05%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWX iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF IEMG iShares Core 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 the MSCI Emerging Markets

Total return, 1 year +14.3% +15.3%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +16.3% (EEM)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −1.0 pts vs EEM

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 1939 2857

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $17.9bn $150.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-03F2D20555

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

What each follows. ACWX follows MSCI ACWI ex USA Index and IEMG follows MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI).
Holdings in common. 31% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Cost. ACWX charges 0.32% of assets a year and IEMG 0.09%, a gap of 0.23 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.

IEMG

IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.3% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% 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 2,857 positions, with the top ten at 32.7%. It sat 10.1% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or IEMG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and IEMG +15.3%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX or IEMG?: IEMG is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWX and IEMG overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 0% of IEMG by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWX ↗

IEMG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IEMG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IEMG ↗

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 IEMG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/acwx-vs-iemg

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