MSCI World ETF

The MSCI World index covers all major market sectors from 23 developed financial markets and countries. It represents 85% of the market capitalization in the markets covered. The MSCI World index is ideally suited as an ETF. That is why several ETF providers use the MSCI World index as the foundation of an ETF.

Why is the MSCI World index so popular among ETF investors?

The answer is simple. If you want to invest your money in the global economies of the “old financial world” this index offers everything you are looking for. Within the MSCI World index 1.600 large companies from all market sectors are being tracked.

These companies are all situated in the developed part of the world . Here you will find the list of countries that are included in this MSCI World index:

United States
Canada
Australia
Hong Kong
Japan
New Zealand
Singapore
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Sweden
Spain
Portugal
Norway
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Italy
The Netherlands

ETF providers that track the MSCI World index

In many cases you will find only 1 ETF provider that offers a particular ETF backed by a specific index. But this MSCI World index offers such great opportunities for ETF providers that you will find many providers tracking this index. Here we will discuss the most important ones:

iShares MSCI World ETF

iShares offers both the blended MSCI World ETF as the Core World ETF. The latter has the lowest total expense ratio. It offers its ETF’s in US Dollars But if you want to invest in this ETF in Euro’s it is possible with the iShares MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Dist) (EUR).

HSBC MSCI World ETF USD

Another option is the HSBC MSCI World ETF. It is considered the cheapest ETF covering the MSCI World index.

Amundi ETF  MSCI World ETF

Another Euro based MSCI World ETF is this one from Amundi. It is a physical ETF and it offers a very low expense ratio.

Alternatives to MSCI World ETF’s

Are there any alternatives to the MSCI World ETF’s? Yes there are. I myself prefer the Think Global ETF as they have made up an index of their own with some fine limitations. For instance it is stipulated that 1 part of the world may not dominate other parts.

The spread ad weighting is very fine for me. There are also many global indices that are used as the foundation for other ETF’s. Vanguard offers the Vanguard FTSE All-World ETF and SPDR offers the S&P World ex-US ETF.

MSCI World market sectors indices

The total MSCI World index is made up of several global market sectors such as the MSCI World Industrials index or the World Energy and World Consumer Staples index. Lyxor, iShares and many other ETF providers have created ETF’s from these World market sectors.

I think these World market sectors are extremely interesting for ETF investors that want to focus on a specific market sector. I have included many of them in my portfolio of 137 ETF’s I track on a daily basis.

See how it works: All my transactions older than 1 month FOR FREE: Click here