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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and SPY +13.6%.

Which is cheaper, ACWX or SPY?

SPY 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 SPY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ACWX vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ACWX returned +14.3% to SPY's +13.6%; 1% 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 $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

ACWX on its own →SPY on its own →

At a glance

+14.3%

ACWX total return, 1 year

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.32%

ACWX expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $17.9bn.

ACWX vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	SPY
Return
Measure	ACWX	SPY
Total return, 1 year	+14.3%	+13.6%
Drawdown
Measure	ACWX	SPY
Below its high	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ACWX	SPY
What it tracks	MSCI ACWI ex USA Index	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	ACWX	SPY
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$17.9bn	$814.8bn
Holdings
Measure	ACWX	SPY
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	15.6%	38.1%

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

Risk and return

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

ACWX SPY

Return

Total return edge SPY +129.8% +698.6%

Annualized edge SPY +4.6% +11.8%

Price return edge SPY +42.8% +469.8%

Risk

Volatility edge SPY (slight) 19.8% 18.2%

Max drawdown edge SPY −59.4% −50.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPY 0.25 0.63

Sortino edge SPY 0.35 0.89

Calmar edge SPY 0.08 0.23

Reading

SPY returned more: +698.6% to +129.8%. SPY swung slightly less: 18.2% to 19.8%. SPY fell less at its worst: −50.8% to −59.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ACWX vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ACWX	SPY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+129.8%	+698.6%	SPY	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+4.6%	+11.8%	SPY	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+42.8%	+469.8%	SPY	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.8%	18.2%	SPY (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.4%	12.8%	SPY	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−59.4%	−50.8%	SPY	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.25	0.63	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.35	0.89	SPY	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	0.23	SPY	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

By the books each fund has filed, ACWX and SPY hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ACWX SPY

ARISTOCRAT LEISURE 0.07% 0.10%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 0.95% 0.07%

MERCK 0.06% 0.53%

PRUDENTIAL PLC 0.08% 0.06%

HELVETIA BALOISE HOLDING N AG 0.06% 0.05%

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM N AG 0.27% 0.04%

VINCI SA 0.16% 0.04%

ADMIRAL GROUP PLC 0.04% 0.06%

EQT 0.04% 0.05%

ESSILORLUXOTTICA SA 0.17% 0.04%

PEMBINA PIPELINE 0.08% 0.04%

HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS LTD 0.03% 0.04%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ACWX

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 5.07%

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS LTD 2.19%

ASML HOLDING 1.77%

SK HYNIX 1.56%

TENCENT HOLDINGS 0.85%

SHELL 0.84%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.81%

NOVARTIS AG 0.80%

Only in SPY

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 5.93%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET INC CL C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.06%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ACWX iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks the MSCI ACWI ex U.S. Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +14.3% +13.6%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.7% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.1 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 99.8%

Holdings 1939 504

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $17.9bn $814.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-8B2EFD318E

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

What each follows. ACWX follows MSCI ACWI ex USA Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Number of holdings. ACWX holds 1,939 positions and SPY holds 504.

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.

SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ACWX or SPY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ACWX returned +14.3% and SPY +13.6%.
Which is cheaper, ACWX or SPY?: SPY 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 SPY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of ACWX and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ACWX vs IVV ACWX vs VTI ACWX vs VOO ACWX vs SPYM FENI vs SPY IXUS vs SPY SPY vs VEU SCHF vs SPY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ACWX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ACWX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ACWX ↗

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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