MSCI World is one of the most important stock market barometers worldwide and a reference for many funds and ETFs. The index represents large and medium-sized joint-stock companies from more than 23 industrialized countries and covers around 85% of Western stock markets, with around 1,500 stocks. Finanztest recommends the MSCI World ETF as O Basic investment for the risk component of the portfolio.
It’s worth taking a closer look at which stocks and sectors are included in the index, what risks investors take, or what returns have looked like in the past.
Update: MSCI World News
- To update. All index weight information in this article was updated as of March 31. Return information is updated every trading day with an interval of one day.
- Annual review. The world stock index is up about 20% in 2023. An investment year breakdown below This is what the year 2023 was like.
- Alternatives. You can find out which other indices are also suitable as a basic investment and which ETFs are available for them in the article These are the alternatives to MSCI World.
- Adjust. In our post In this way, the proportion of US and IT stocks can be reducedwe present mixes of ETFs with which the portfolio can be structured differently.
- Income check. Read our analysis to see whether other indices and alternative portfolio compositions would actually perform better MSCI World’s weighting under scrutiny.
If you want to learn more about investing in MSCI World ETFs, we’ve included this article MSCI World – just for beginners? to the heart.
MSCI World Index: 1 Year Chart
Current MSCI World Index Returns
We show the current returns of MSCI World compared to three other major indices, MSCI Europe, MSCI Emerging Markets and MSCI All Country World. All four indices include large and mid-cap stocks:
Country Returns in Comparison
The heavyweight in the MSCI World index is the US, followed by Japan and European countries. In the following graph we show the returns of these markets in comparison – both in the short and long term.
This is what’s behind the global ETF index
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Current composition of the MSCI World Index
The following table provides an overview of the main features of the World Index. As in the returns table above, we also show the comparison with Europe, emerging markets and the All Country Index.
The evolution of MSCI World prices over ten years
The following graph of performance over the last ten years also gives a good impression of the ups and downs. In this chart, in addition to MSCI Europe and MSCI All Country World, we also show the MSCI World SRI for comparison. This index is an ethical-ecological variant of the main index.
The performance of the MSCI World Index since its inception
Over the long term, investors would have achieved growth of around 6,000 percent by investing in MSCI World since the calculation began in 1970. This corresponds to a return of approximately 8% per year.
This is how MSCI breaks down global stock markets
Using a multi-stage selection process, index provider MSCI filters which stocks end up in the MSCI World Index and to what extent:
MSCI World covers three-quarters of the global stock market. Some stocks are not included in the index – mainly small-cap and emerging market stocks are missing.
Tip: If you are also interested in other markets, read our article Useful additions to the portfolio.
Additional MSCI World Analysis Content
- The Current Returns Ranking shows how returns over the past five years compare to the best and worst five years from MSCI World. These comparisons are available for different time periods and are updated daily.
- You will find an overview of everything that can be invested in Germany Sustainable global, market-wide ETF with returns in comparison.
- We analyze those included in the MSCI World Index Countries It is Industrial sectors. You will discover how individual markets developed over different time periods.
- Under Investment strategies: who gets the best return? we show the development of popular investment strategies such as value, dividends or momentum compared to MSCI World.
- Advanced investors may also be interested in how high Dividend Yield and Price-Earnings Ratio (P/E Ratio) of MSCI World, as well as individual countries and sectors, are currently missing.
- As Tool: What sector does this company belong to? You can find out about the industry affiliation of all MSCI World companies or view all companies in a specific sector.
Tip: If you want to access the analyzes regularly and also use the links to our fund database, it’s worth hiring a flat rate test.