index
FTSE All-World ex US
Global equities excluding the US
Index Battle · Evidence-first comparison
FTSE All-World ex US vs MSCI Europe: Which Exposure Fits Your Portfolio?
Global minus the US, emerging markets included — against developed Europe alone.
Last reviewed: 26 August 2026IndependentNo paid placementsInformational only
vs
index
MSCI Europe
Developed European equities
Overall verdict
These indices come from different providers with different market classifications and different size-segment rules, so the gap is wider than geography alone. FTSE All-World ex US spans developed and emerging markets across the world; MSCI Europe is confined to developed European large and mid caps.
Quick Decision
Choose FTSE All-World ex US if…
one holding should cover everything outside the US, with emerging markets included by rule.
Choose MSCI Europe if…
the allocation exists to raise European weight specifically, with a developed-market boundary.
Either can make sense if…
the total portfolio's emerging-market and European weights are both measured after the allocation is made.
At a glance
Entity characteristics—not reference-product fees.
| Characteristic | FTSE All-World ex US | MSCI Europe |
|---|---|---|
| Exposure | Global equities excluding the US | Developed European equities |
| Geography | Global ex US | Europe |
| Market coverage | Large and mid cap | Large and mid cap |
| Emerging markets | Included | Not included |
| Small caps | Not included | Not included |
| Weighting | Market-cap weighted | Market-cap weighted |
| Index provider | FTSE Russell | MSCI |
Key differences
- 1.Exposure: Global equities excluding the US compared with Developed European equities.
- 2.Geography: Global ex US compared with Europe.
- 3.Emerging markets: Included compared with Not included.
- 4.Index provider: FTSE Russell compared with MSCI.
Decision scorecard
ExposureDepends
GeographyDepends
Emerging marketsDepends
Index providerDepends
“Depends” means the category reflects an investor objective, not universal superiority.
Coverage, countries and sectors
Verified holdings, concentration, country and sector datasets are not currently connected. When available, each dataset will be labelled as official index data or Reference ETF holdings; listing domicile will not be presented as economic revenue exposure.
What this means in a portfolio
MSCI Europe overlaps with part of FTSE All-World ex US but omits Japan, Canada, Australia and every emerging market. The narrower index is a component decision, not a replacement.
Common mistake
Comparing headline country counts without checking whether emerging markets are inside the index at all.
Historical comparison basis
Historical performance is represented using Grovcap-selected reference exchange-traded products. It is not the official index or spot return series. Fund or ETP returns can differ because of fees, taxes, tracking, cash positions, product structure and other implementation effects. Differences can reflect TER, tracking difference, withholding taxes, sampling, securities lending, cash drag, operating expenses, currency conversion and inception date.
No period is currently comparable across both reference products on a like-for-like currency, basis and reporting-date footing, so no return figures are shown. Grovcap never renders a missing return as 0.00%.
Grovcap does not currently hold a daily net-asset-value time series for these products. Indexed performance charts, annualised volatility, maximum drawdown and return-per-risk therefore remain unavailable rather than being estimated from period returns.
Reference instruments used
One canonical European exchange-traded product per exposure, chosen by published rules: exact benchmark family, active and published, plain long-only, then accumulating, unhedged, longest usable history and largest established product.
FTSE All-World ex US reference product
Xtrackers FTSE All-World ex US UCITS ETF 1C
- ISIN
- IE000YKHGYN2
- Product type
- UCITS ETF
- Provider
- Xtrackers
- Tracked benchmark
- FTSE All-World ex US Index
- Distribution
- Accumulating
- Currency hedging
- Unhedged
- Replication
- Physical
- Domicile
- IE
- Base currency
- USD
- Ongoing charge (TER)
- 0.15%
- Fund size
- €43.92m
- Inception
- 8 Apr 2026
Selected deterministically from 1 eligible product in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.
MSCI Europe reference product
Xtrackers MSCI Europe UCITS ETF 1C
- ISIN
- LU0274209237
- Product type
- UCITS ETF
- Provider
- Xtrackers
- Tracked benchmark
- MSCI Total Return Net Europe Index
- Distribution
- Accumulating
- Currency hedging
- Unhedged
- Replication
- Physical
- Domicile
- LU
- Base currency
- USD
- Ongoing charge (TER)
- 0.12%
- Fund size
- €8.37bn
- Inception
- 10 Jan 2007
Selected deterministically from 19 eligible products in the Grovcap database — never by commercial arrangement.
Continue researching
Related Grovcap guides, rankings and tools to take the next step.
Best ETFsBest FTSE All-World UCITS ETFsEvery core FTSE All-World UCITS share class compared on cost, size and structure.Best ETFsBest MSCI Europe UCITS ETFsLarge- and mid-cap developed Europe under MSCI's index methodology.Best ETFsBest Europe UCITS ETFsCompare the broader regional choices before selecting a European benchmark.PortfolioIs One All-World ETF Enough?Separate genuine diversification from overlap and intentional tilts.ToolsETF Comparison ToolPut any UCITS ETFs side by side on the fields that drive your decision.
Disclaimer
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