iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI)
$157.74−0.94%close of Oct 16, 2026
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by iShares (BlackRock). This fund owns large and medium sized companies all over the world, in both rich and emerging countries. It charges 0.32% a year. From March 2008 to October 2026 it returned about 8.4% a year, and its worst drop was −56.3%.
Written by the Tactfolio research team. Fund facts checked October 16, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.
- Yearly fee
- 0.32%
- about $32 on $10,000
- 1-year return
- 16.0%
- to Oct 16, 2026
- Return per year
- 8.4%
- since March 2008
- Worst drop
- −56.3%
- since 2008
- Below its high
- −2.9%
- now
- Volatility
- 20.1%
- yearly swings
- Issuer
- iShares (BlackRock)
- Tracks
- MSCI All Country World Index (Net)
- Started trading
- March 26, 2008
- Type
- Global stocks, ETF
- Holdings
- 2,197 holdings as of October 15, 2026
- Expense ratio
- 0.32% a year
How has ACWI done since 2008?#
From March 2008 to October 2026, ACWI returned about 8.4% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 12.0% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $44,511 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.
| Period | ACWI | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 month | 0.1% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 0.9% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | 6.6% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | 12.2% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | 16.0% | 16.8% |
| 3 years per year | 21.0% | 22.0% |
| 5 years per year | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| 10 years per year | 12.6% | 15.4% |
| Since 2008 per year | 8.4% | 12.0% |
Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.
ACWI returns by month and year#
ACWI rose in 139 of its 224 months (62%). Its best month was April 2009, at 12.8%. Its worst was October 2008, at −18.4%.
| Year | Total | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 12.2% | 2.8 | 1.3 | −6.1 | 9.5 | 4.6 | −0.3 | −0.3 | 2.7 | −1.2 | −0.6 | ||
| 2025 | 22.4% | 3.1 | −0.3 | −3.7 | 0.5 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| 2024 | 17.4% | 0.3 | 4.5 | 3.3 | −3.5 | 4.6 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 2.2 | −2.1 | 4.0 | −2.7 |
| 2023 | 22.3% | 7.5 | −3.3 | 3.3 | 1.6 | −1.0 | 5.8 | 3.6 | −2.9 | −4.3 | −2.5 | 8.9 | 4.8 |
| 2022 | −18.4% | −4.5 | −3.1 | 1.9 | −8.1 | 0.5 | −8.1 | 7.1 | −4.4 | −9.4 | 6.4 | 8.3 | −4.6 |
| 2021 | 18.7% | −0.3 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.2 | −4.2 | 5.4 | −2.3 | 3.9 |
| 2020 | 16.3% | −1.4 | −7.5 | −13.4 | 9.8 | 5.1 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 6.0 | −2.9 | −2.2 | 11.8 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 26.6% | 8.0 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 3.4 | −6.1 | 6.5 | 0.1 | −2.2 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| 2018 | −9.1% | 5.7 | −4.5 | −1.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | −0.6 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | −7.4 | 1.6 | −7.2 |
| 2017 | 24.3% | 2.9 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 8.4% | −5.3 | −1.2 | 7.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 0.3 | 0.9 | −1.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| 2015 | −2.2% | −1.3 | 5.5 | −1.5 | 2.9 | 0.0 | −2.6 | 0.8 | −6.8 | −3.4 | 7.7 | −0.5 | −2.1 |
| 2014 | 3.8% | −4.6 | 5.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 1.8 | −1.4 | 2.6 | −3.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | −2.4 |
| 2013 | 22.4% | 3.8 | −0.1 | 1.8 | 2.8 | −0.4 | −2.6 | 4.6 | −2.3 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 2.1 |
| 2012 | 16.8% | 5.5 | 5.0 | 1.1 | −1.1 | −9.3 | 5.1 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 2.7 | −0.5 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
| 2011 | −7.8% | 1.1 | 3.1 | −0.9 | 4.8 | −1.9 | −1.8 | −2.3 | −7.4 | −10.4 | 11.3 | −1.1 | −0.9 |
| 2010 | 12.8% | −5.3 | 2.2 | 6.3 | −0.2 | −9.4 | −3.6 | 9.3 | −4.3 | 9.8 | 3.8 | −2.2 | 7.8 |
| 2009 | 32.4% | −11.4 | −9.7 | 9.2 | 12.8 | 10.5 | −1.5 | 9.4 | 3.0 | 4.9 | −2.7 | 5.4 | 1.9 |
| 2008 | −35.3% | −1.6 | 8.0 | 0.9 | −8.0 | −3.2 | −1.7 | −12.3 | −18.4 | −8.8 | 5.5 |
Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.
How risky is ACWI compared with the S&P 500?#
Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.
- Beta 0.92. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, ACWI tended to move about 0.92%.
- Correlation 0.97. ACWI mostly moved with the S&P 500.
- Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, ACWI rose 91% as much on average. In months it fell, ACWI fell 96% as much.
| Measure | ACWI | S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|
| Return per year | 10.7% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 16.2% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −26.4% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.71 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.03 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.40 | 0.52 |
Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.
Is ACWI above its 200-day average?#
ACWI closed 3.9% above its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds ACWI only above that average would hold it today.
- vs 200-day average
- +3.9%
- above it
- 50-day vs 200-day
- +5.7%
- trend rising
- vs 52-week high
- −2.9%
- high of $162.48
A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for ACWI and backtest it in a minute.
What was ACWI’s worst drop?#
A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. ACWI’s worst fall was −56.3%, from May 16, 2008 to March 9, 2009. It got back to that high on March 6, 2013. On October 16, 2026 it was 2.9% below its highest close.
| Drop | From the high | To the bottom | Back to the high |
|---|---|---|---|
| −56.3% | May 16, 2008 | Mar 9, 200910 months | Mar 6, 20134.0 years |
| −33.5% | Feb 12, 2020 | Mar 23, 202040 days | Aug 24, 20205 months |
| −26.4% | Jan 3, 2022 | Oct 12, 20229 months | Jan 25, 202415 months |
| −19.5% | Jan 26, 2018 | Dec 24, 201811 months | Jul 24, 20197 months |
| −19.4% | May 21, 2015 | Feb 11, 20169 months | Jan 4, 201711 months |
Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.
What does ACWI hold?#
This fund owns large and medium sized companies all over the world, in both rich and emerging countries. The United States is the biggest part. One share gives you a slice of the global stock market.
It tracks the MSCI All Country World Index (Net). It had 2,197 holdings as of October 15, 2026, according to iShares (BlackRock).
What is the ACWI expense ratio?#
ACWI charges 0.32% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.32% fee comes to about $32 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 23% charge more.
You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.
Which Tactfolio strategies hold ACWI?#
One classic strategy holds ACWI at least some of the time. Each is a set of written rules you can open, test and copy.
- Pragmatic Asset Allocation (Quantpedia’s PAA), by Radovan Vojtko and Juliána Javorská (Quantpedia), 2024
How does ACWI compare with similar ETFs?#
Funds that can stand in for ACWI:
- VT: Vanguard Total World Stock ETF, 0.06% a year
- AVGE: Avantis All Equity Markets ETF, 0.23% a year
- URTH: iShares MSCI World ETF, 0.24% a year
- VEU: Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF, 0.04% a year
See all 8 ACWI alternatives, compared on the same dates as ACWI.
Test ACWI in your own rules#
Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add ACWI, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.
The details#
Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for ACWI and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.
Fund facts come from iShares (BlackRock). We checked them on October 16, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.
Common questions#
What is the expense ratio of ACWI?#
ACWI charges 0.32% a year, according to iShares (BlackRock) as of October 16, 2026. That is about $32 a year for every $10,000 you hold.
When did ACWI start trading?#
ACWI started trading on March 26, 2008. It is run by iShares (BlackRock).
What does ACWI track?#
ACWI tracks the MSCI All Country World Index (Net). This fund owns large and medium sized companies all over the world, in both rich and emerging countries.
How much has ACWI returned per year?#
From March 2008 to October 2026, ACWI returned about 8.4% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −56.3%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.
Is ACWI above its 200-day moving average?#
On October 16, 2026, ACWI closed 3.9% above its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.
Which strategies use ACWI?#
One of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold ACWI, including Pragmatic Asset Allocation (Quantpedia’s PAA).