Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which global equity ETFs the most RIAs actually own. The answer is Vanguard Total World Stock (VT), held by 54 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025. iShares MSCI ACWI (ACWI) follows at 38, then Capital Group Global Growth Equity (CGGO) at 25. A single all-world fund covers a lot of ground: the MSCI ACWI Index holds 2,413 stocks across 23 developed and 24 emerging markets, with the U.S. at 64.63% of the index (MSCI ACWI Index factsheet, October 30, 2026).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 global equity ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and explain why most RIAs still build their global equity exposure from separate U.S. and international funds.
The Top 10 Global Equity ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Category
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
VT
|
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF
|
Global total market
|
54
|
|
2
|
ACWI
|
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
|
Global large/mid cap
|
38
|
|
3
|
CGGO
|
Capital Group Global Growth Equity ETF
|
Global growth (active)
|
25
|
|
4
|
AVGE
|
Avantis All Equity Markets ETF
|
Global all-equity (systematic)
|
14
|
|
5
|
ACWV
|
iShares MSCI Global Min Vol Factor ETF
|
Global minimum volatility
|
13
|
|
6
|
IOO
|
iShares Global 100 ETF
|
Global mega cap
|
13
|
|
7
|
GCOW
|
Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend ETF
|
Global dividend
|
6
|
|
8
|
SDG
|
iShares MSCI Global Sustainable Development Goals ETF
|
Global impact
|
6
|
|
9
|
SPGM
|
SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF
|
Global total market
|
5
|
|
10
|
CGGE
|
Capital Group Global Equity ETF
|
Global core (active)
|
5
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025. ACWV and IOO tie at 13 RIAs. GCOW and SDG tie at 6. SPGM and CGGE tie at 5. Ties are ordered by RIA dollars held. Ex-U.S. funds and global sector and real estate funds are excluded.
What the Ranking Shows
1. Global Funds Are a Niche Allocation (104 RIAs)
104 RIAs hold at least one of the top 10 global equity ETFs. That is a small group next to the other equity building blocks. Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) alone is held by 212 RIAs, about four times VT’s 54. 281 RIAs hold one of the top 10 international equity ETFs.
Most RIAs don’t buy the world in a single ticker. They buy the U.S. and international markets separately, which lets them set the regional mix themselves.
2. Global Funds Sit Beside U.S. and International Funds, Not Instead of Them (104 of 104)
Even the RIAs that own a global fund don’t stop there. All 104 also hold at least one international equity ETF, and 84 also hold VTI. 47 hold two or more of the top 10 global funds.
For most of these firms, a global ETF is not a one-fund portfolio. It’s a satellite or a model sleeve that sits next to dedicated U.S. and international positions.
3. Active and Factor Funds Take a Real Share (6 of the Top 10)
Six of the top 10 are not plain cap-weighted index funds: two active Capital Group funds (CGGO and CGGE), a systematic Avantis fund (AVGE), a minimum volatility fund (ACWV), a dividend fund (GCOW) and an impact fund (SDG). Together they reach 52 RIAs and hold $126M, about 28% of top 10 dollars. For 23 RIAs, these are the only global funds they hold.
CGGO ranks third overall. In an asset class this small, an active fund can reach the top three with 25 RIAs.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $456M in the top 10 global equity ETFs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
VT
|
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF
|
54
|
$228M
|
|
ACWI
|
iShares MSCI ACWI ETF
|
38
|
$77M
|
|
CGGO
|
Capital Group Global Growth Equity ETF
|
25
|
$74M
|
|
AVGE
|
Avantis All Equity Markets ETF
|
14
|
$21M
|
|
ACWV
|
iShares MSCI Global Min Vol Factor ETF
|
13
|
$18M
|
|
SPGM
|
SPDR Portfolio MSCI Global Stock Market ETF
|
5
|
$13M
|
VT and ACWI together hold $305M, about 67% of top 10 dollars. Most VT positions are small, though: 31 of its 54 RIA positions are under $1M, and five are $10M or more.
CGGO holds nearly as much money as ACWI with 13 fewer RIAs. Its dollars are concentrated: the three largest positions make up 46% of the fund’s RIA total, and the median position is only about $30,000. SPGM ranks ninth by holders but sixth by dollars, with an average position of $2.6M across five RIAs.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
Global equity is the smallest equity asset class in RIA ETF books. The firms that do use it treat it as a complement to their U.S. and international positions.
- Pitch the regional mix, not just the fund. Almost every RIA builds global exposure from separate U.S. and international funds. A global strategy has to explain why the manager should set the country weights instead of the advisor.
- Start with the 104 RIAs already holding global funds. These firms have already accepted a single-fund approach to world equity. They are the most natural audience for global equity strategies, active or passive.
- Use the active foothold. CGGO reaching 25 RIAs shows active global managers can win RIA allocations. The 52 RIAs holding factor, active or thematic global funds are the first call for differentiated global strategies.
- Look at the small VT positions. With 31 of 54 VT positions under $1M, many RIAs are holding global equity as a satellite. A manager with a clear case can make that sleeve bigger.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
- Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
- Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
- Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
