ACWV vs GRIN

ACWVBiShares MSCI Global Min Vol Factor ETF

GRINDVictoryShares International Free Cash Flow Growth ETF

In short

ACWV Global min vol in one ticker: an optimizer sifts the MSCI ACWI universe, developed and emerging, for the lowest-risk mix of roughly 400 stocks. Same playbook since 2011, at 0.20% a year.

GRIN Free-cash-flow funds abroad usually hunt cheap cash cows. GRIN runs the math the other way: non-US developed large caps ranked on cash generated per dollar of invested capital, then screened for sales and profit growth.

Stated mandate

ACWV The fund seeks to track an index of developed and emerging market equities that collectively exhibit lower volatility than the broader developed and emerging equity markets.

GRIN The fund is designed to provide exposure to equity securities of growth companies in non-U.S. developed markets, using free-cash-flow-oriented profitability measures in the index methodology.

Why people hold it

• ACWV 0.20% a year for a globally optimized factor build, well under the 0.41% median for international factor ETFs.
• Not a simple low-vol screen. The index optimizes the MSCI ACWI for the lowest absolute risk within a set of constraints, so how stocks move together shapes the weights.msci.com
• One ticker for the whole map. The developed-only sibling EFAV charges the same 0.20%; ACWV folds emerging markets into the same wrapper.
• Running since 2011 with billions in assets, it sits among the stronger implementations in its international factor peer group.

• GRIN The screen is concrete: expected free cash flow divided by invested capital, then the strongest growth scores from sales and EBITDA trends, with sector, country and single-stock weight caps.b-cdn.net
• It points the free-cash-flow framework Victory already runs on US large caps at non-US developed markets, rather than a one-off idea built for a single launch.vcm.comvcm.com 2
• Roughly 110 developed-market names, with index limits on sector, country and stock weight, so one hot market cannot quietly become the whole portfolio.b-cdn.net
• Rules, not hunches: it tracks a published index, so the methodology tells you exactly what earns a spot and what gets cut at rebalance.b-cdn.net

Worth knowing

• ACWV Minimum volatility is the aim, not a floor. iShares states the fund may experience more than minimum volatility, with no guarantee the index strategy lowers it.ishares.com
• Emerging markets ride along inside this defensive build, bringing the political and economic swings iShares flags as heightened in those markets.ishares.com
• By design it leans away from the cap-weighted world index, so its country and sector mix can look quite different and its path can diverge in either direction.msci.com

• GRIN Cost is the trade-off: a 1.06% gross expense ratio against rules-based international factor peers such as QLVD (0.15%), ACWV (0.20%) and IDMO (0.25%).
• The lower net fee comes from a contractual waiver with an expiration date (October 31, 2026), so check the prospectus for the figure currently in force.vcm.com
• It launched in June 2025 and trades thinly, so there is little live history to judge and spreads can widen on quiet days. Distributions are irregular, not scheduled.

Full ACWV profile⁠

Full GRIN profile⁠