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

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +18.2% and ILOW +9.0%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX or ILOW?

ACWX is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 1% of ILOW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Share on X Download as PDF

Ask IQ about these two funds

ACWX vs ILOW: Differences, Returns & Fees

ACWX and ILOW hold 16% of their weight in the same names, and ACWX returned +18.2% over the year. Net assets: $17.6bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF, and $1.8bn on Oct 8, 2026 for AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF.

ACWX costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.2 points; ACWX is 9.8 times larger.

	ACWX	ILOW
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.50%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026	$17.5bn	$1.8bn
Total return, 1 year	+18.2%	+9.0%
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	No index, actively managed
Holdings in common	16%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	16.6%	20.7%
Below its high	3.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026	4.9%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+18.2%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+9.0%

ILOW total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.50%

ILOW expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, ACWX and ILOW hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

50%

half

16% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding ACWX ILOW

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 5.41% 2.50%

ASML HOLDING 1.95% 2.87%

SHELL 0.80% 1.33%

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.73% 0.80%

NOVARTIS AG 0.71% 1.95%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.66% 1.51%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.65% 1.67%

SAP 0.58% 0.95%

TOTALENERGIES 0.46% 1.08%

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 0.45% 2.10%

HITACHI 0.44% 1.34%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 0.43% 1.45%

Only in ACWX

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.52%

SK HYNIX 1.91%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.89%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.86%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.82%

NESTLE SA 0.65%

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING 0.62%

BHP GROUP LTD 0.60%

Only in ILOW

Prysmian SpA 2.13%

Enel SpA 1.71%

Tryg A/S 1.66%

Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 1.57%

KBC Group NV 1.50%

UniCredit SpA 1.48%

Nordea Bank Abp 1.47%

Open House Group Co Ltd 1.35%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

ACWX

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

ILOW

AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares AllianceBernstein

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +18.2% +9.0%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 +1.0 pts −8.2 pts

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.50%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.6%

Holdings 1908 84

Net assets, ACWX as of Oct 9, 2026 and ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026 $17.6bn $1.8bn

ACWX and ILOW on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

ACWX in plain words

ACWX tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S.. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +18.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,908 positions, with the top ten at 16.6%. It sat 3.9% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

ILOW in plain words

ILOW is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +9.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 1% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 20.7%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or ILOW?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +18.2% and ILOW +9.0%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX or ILOW?: ACWX is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ACWX and ILOW overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 1% of ILOW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWX vs HFXI ACWX vs IDEQ ACWX vs SEIE ACWX vs MFSI DFAI vs ILOW DFIC vs ILOW ILOW vs IQLT CORO vs ILOW

ACWX on its own →ILOW on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

ACWX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ACWX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for ACWX ↗ILOW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ILOW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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 ILOW, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/acwx-vs-ilow

Open data

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