MSCI ACWI
The complete world in one index, 23 developed and 24 emerging-market countries, ~2,900 stocks.
What it tracks
MSCI maintains two separate sub-indices, MSCI World (23 developed countries) and MSCI Emerging Markets (24 emerging countries), and ACWI is their combination. Each country's weight reflects the total free-float of its listed companies relative to the whole. The US dominates at ~63% because US companies are the largest in the world by market value. The is rebalanced quarterly; country classifications change occasionally as MSCI reviews whether a market meets its accessibility and size criteria.
Geographic exposure
Where in the world the index is invested, by domicile of listed company. For global indices this varies significantly between developed and emerging markets.
ACWI is the only index here that includes both developed and emerging markets. China and India appear directly (vs. being absent from MSCI World), but the US still dominates at ~63%. Note: VWCE tracks FTSE All-World, which uses slightly different country classifications, South Korea is "developed" in FTSE but "emerging" in MSCI. In practice the two indices are nearly identical.
Approximate end-2025 figures
Historical performance
Annual total returns from 2001 onward, including reinvested . Move the slider to see what a different starting amount would have become, and switch to the bar view to see how uneven the path actually was.
Total return, dividends reinvested, before fees and taxes. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Returns by decade
Average annualised return for each full decade. This view makes it obvious that the path is anything but smooth, the 2000s were a lost decade for US equities, erasing all gains from the dot-com crash and the 2008 financial crisis.
* 2020s is partial (2020–2025). All figures are approximate total return .
Sector breakdown
How the index splits across the eleven standard GICS sectors. The bigger the bar, the larger the weight in the index.
Approximate end-2025 figures
Top 10 holdings
The largest names in the index by weight. Together they make up a meaningful share of the whole, pay attention to concentration.
| # | Company | Ticker | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | AAPL | 4.8% |
| 2 | Microsoft | MSFT | 4.3% |
| 3 | Nvidia | NVDA | 4.1% |
| 4 | Amazon | AMZN | 2.5% |
| 5 | Alphabet (Google) | GOOGL | 2.4% |
| 6 | Meta Platforms | META | 1.7% |
| 7 | Tesla | TSLA | 1.3% |
| 8 | TSMC | TSM | 1.1% |
| 9 | Broadcom | AVGO | 1.0% |
| 10 | JPMorgan Chase | JPM | 0.9% |
ETFs that track it
The funds most long-term investors use to own this index. Lower are almost always better. Domicile matters for , UCITS funds are domiciled in Ireland (IE) for European investors, US-domiciled (US) for American ones.
| Ticker | Fund name | Provider | Domicile | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISAC | iShares MSCI ACWI UCITS ETF USD Acc | BlackRock | IE | Acc | 0.20% |
| VWCE | Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF Acc | Vanguard | IE | Acc | 0.22% |
| ACWI | iShares MSCI ACWI ETF | BlackRock | US | Dist | 0.32% |
Accumulating, are automatically reinvested inside the fund. You don't receive cash but the share price grows. Simpler for long-term and more tax-efficient in many European countries.
Distributing, are paid out to you as cash. You decide what to do with them, but you're also responsible for declaring and paying on each distribution. Common preference for investors who want regular income.
A bit of history
MSCI launched the ACWI in 1988 to give institutional investors a single benchmark spanning the entire investable world. For most of its history it was a tool for pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, accessible to retail investors only through expensive active funds. The launch of low-cost UCITS ETFs tracking it (ISAC in 2011, VWCE in 2019) made it the practical choice for individual European investors who want a single-fund portfolio. The 2008 financial hit it hard (-44%), as a global by definition affects every market. The 2010s were dominated by US tech outperformance, steadily raising the US weight from ~50% to ~63%.
- + True global , developed and emerging markets in a single fund.
- + The ultimate "lazy portfolio" answer: one ticker, 47 countries, ~2,900 stocks.
- + VWCE and ISAC are acc funds, reinvested automatically, no tax drag on distributions.
- + Low cost: ISAC at 0.20% and VWCE at 0.22% are among the cheapest all-world options.
- − Still ~63% US, "global" in name, but the index follows weighting, so the US dominates.
- − The 2000s outperformance of EM (+10% CAGR) barely moved the needle vs MSCI World, because EM is only ~10% of ACWI.
- − A global hits everything at once, the 2008 was -44%, nearly as bad as pure US indices.
- − VWCE tracks FTSE All-World, not MSCI ACWI, country classifications differ slightly (notably South Korea).
All figures are approximate end-2025 values for educational illustration. Index composition, weights, holdings and returns change constantly. Nothing here is financial advice or a recommendation.