A Gold-Rated World Stock ETF

Key Morningstar Metrics for iShares MSCI World Index ETF

iShares MSCI World Index ETF XWD seeks to capture all but the smallest stocks in developed markets around the world, but it could be cheaper. The fund tracks the MSCI World Index, which targets large- and mid-cap stocks across developed markets. Market cap weighting naturally reduces turnover and trading costs by channeling the market’s collective opinion of a stock’s relative value. This means stocks that do well take up a greater share of the portfolio, which can sometimes concentrate the fund in expensive stocks or market segments that have done especially well.

Since its 2009 launch, the fund’s US equity allocation rose to over 70% of assets by the end of 2025 from under 50%. This shift reflects the exceptional performance and growth of US large-cap companies relative to the rest of the world. This is not unique to the fund, however, and most peers have also seen their US allocations swell. Market cap weighting amplifies this effect, bringing large-cap US stocks into sharper focus here. The 10 largest stocks in this portfolio were US-based companies at the end of January 2026.

Excluding emerging-market and small-cap companies results in only modest differences relative to peers, since market cap weighting already prioritizes the largest global stocks. Most sector weightings mirror the Morningstar Category norm, but the fund still tends to favor technology companies, since that sector is home to some of the largest US stocks.

The fund outperformed the global large-stock blend category average by over 2.5 percentage points annualized, and it delivered stronger risk-adjusted performance for the trailing 10 years through December 2025. Much of this success stems from its emphasis on large-cap and US stocks, as both have dominated global returns for much of the past decade. Still, with roughly 30% invested in international equities, the fund does well when non-US markets outperform, like in 2025.

iShares MSCI World Index ETF: Performance Highlights

The fund has a strong long-term track record, beating the category average by over 2.5 percentage points annualized over the past 10 years through December 2025.

US and large-cap stocks have driven this outperformance, since the fund tends to prefer both compared to many peers. Over the past decade, US large-caps have been among the strongest-performing segments of the global market. Because the fund is market-cap weighted, top-performing and fast-growing companies grow to represent a larger share of the portfolio over time. This dynamic is reflected in the fund’s US allocation rising by more than 20% over the fund’s 17-year life.

International stocks across many regions outperformed US stocks in 2025, however. The fund still benefited meaningfully from this shift because around 30% of assets remain invested in non-US developed-market stocks. It captured a substantial portion of that outperformance. The fund maintained its edge in 2025, beating the category average by more than 2 percentage points. Communication services and healthcare stocks did especially well in these international markets and helped further push the fund ahead.