More than 4,000 ETFs are tradable in Germany. There should be something for everyone. But there are still gaps to simplify investing. Xtrackers is now releasing an ETF that the community has been waiting for for years.
Until now, anyone who wanted to represent the entire stock market of industrialized countries needed two ETFs: one on the MSCI World for large and medium-sized companies – and one on the MSCI World Small Cap for small caps. This has been history since April 2026. With the Xtrackers MSCI World IMI UCITS ETF* (WKN: DBX0YJ, ISIN: IE000X1GW0A7) For the first time, there is an ETF that combines all three size classes in a single product.
Why the MSCI World alone is not enough
The classic MSCI World sounds broad – but only contains around 1,300 large and medium-sized companies from 23 industrialized countries. This covers around 85% of the investable market capitalization. And what about the rest? This is exactly where the IMI variant comes in: The MSCI World IMI (Investable Market Index) also includes small caps and thus comes to over 5,000 titles. This increases market coverage to around 99% of industrialized country values.
For investors who have previously combined an MSCI World ETF with a small cap ETF, this means: one savings plan instead of two, no manual rebalancing between the components, less complexity in the portfolio. This is a huge advantage, because restoring the original weighting in the portfolio costs money. Either shares from the better-performing ETF have to be sold, which triggers a tax event, or money has to be held in reserve in order to buy additional shares.
Rebalancing: Do you need more information about how to proceed with rebalancing? Then read our dedicated guide article on rebalancing right away.
What’s in the new Xtrackers ETF
The ETF was launched on April 8, 2026 and is part of DWS’ Xtrackers Core series. It is accumulating and the fund’s domicile is in Ireland. The TER is 0.15% – which is on par with the cheap SPDR MSCI World (0.12%) and well below the iShares Core MSCI World (0.20%). This is remarkably cheap for an ETF that also covers small caps.
Let’s take a look at the ten largest positions:
| Pursue | Weighting | country | Industry | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA Corp | 5.04% | USA | Information technology |
| 2 | Apple Inc | 4.08% | USA | Information technology |
| 3 | Microsoft Corp | 3.07% | USA | Information technology |
| 4 | Amazon.com Inc | 2.48% | USA | Consumer Discretionary |
| 5 | Alphabet Inc (Class A) | 2.04% | USA | Communication Services |
| 6 | Broadcom Inc | 1.89% | USA | Information technology |
| 7 | Alphabet Inc (Class C) | 1.72% | USA | Communication Services |
| 8 | Meta Platforms Inc | 1.54% | USA | Communication Services |
| 9 | Tesla Inc | 1.17% | USA | Consumer Discretionary |
| 10 | JPMorgan Chase | 0.86% | USA | Finance |
Source: DWS/Xtrackers
DWS attacks Vanguard
The new IMI ETF is part of a larger product offensive by Xtrackers. At the same time came one Xtrackers FTSE All-World UCITS ETF* (WKN: DBX0YG) and a Xtrackers FTSE All-World ex US UCITS ETF* (WKN: DBX0YH) onto the market. The thrust is clear: DWS wants to compete with Vanguard in global basic portfolios – and is relying on aggressive prices. This competition is good news for investors because it further drives down costs. The Xtrackers FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (WKN: DBX0YG) with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.12 percent is 0.07 percentage points cheaper than the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (WKN: A2PKXG) with 0.19 percent.
What investors should consider
The fund volume is currently around 8 million euros – the ETF is brand new and first has to prove that it is attracting enough inflows. Below 100 million euros there is generally a risk of a fund being closed. It should also be clear to investors that only industrialized countries are represented in the ETF. This is also a big misunderstanding with its smaller brother MSCI World. This is still considered a global ETF, but does not contain any emerging markets.
Classification
The Xtrackers MSCI World IMI ETF* closes a gap that was open for a surprisingly long time. A single, inexpensive ETF on the entire stock market of industrialized countries – including small caps – simply did not exist until now. Whether the product becomes established now depends on volume growth. The conditions are good: the price is right, the brand is established, and the demand for simple, complete solutions has never been greater.
finanzen.net ZERO: Start now with the cost winner from Stiftung Warentest (12/2025)
Open your portfolio online in just a few steps and trade your stocks and ETFs without order fees (plus spreads) – and with full integration into Germany’s largest stock exchange portal.
