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ETF comparison

IEFA vs VEA

Both International Developed.

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF · Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets Index Fund ETF Shares

Holdings overlap

Weighted by ISIN/CUSIP
78.1 %

2,421 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of IEFA and VEA would leave roughly 78.1% of each dollar exposed to the same underlying securities.

IEFA only 20.9% Shared 78.1% VEA only 20.3%
In IEFA only
200 positions
Shared
2,421 positions
In VEA only
1,460 positions

Side by side

IEFA

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

iShares · International Developed

92 composite / 100
Expense ratio
0.070%
Net assets
$186.54B
TTM yield
3.37%
Top-10 conc.
11.4%
VEA

Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets Index Fund ETF Shares

Vanguard · International Developed

94 composite / 100
Expense ratio
0.030%
Net assets
$316.31B
TTM yield
2.56%
Top-10 conc.
11.5%

Sub-score comparison

93
Cost
97
76
Tax efficiency
78
100
Liquidity
100
98
Concentration
98
—
Tracking quality
—
IEFA sub-score VEA

Tracking quality isn't part of the composite — see what we don't score for why.

Cost difference

VEA is 4 bps cheaper than IEFA. On a $100,000 position that's about $40/yr more in fees for IEFA.

Fee figure is the annual expense charged on $100,000. To see how the gap compounds over a multi-decade holding period, open the cost calculator pre-filled with IEFA vs VEA.

Top shared holdings

2,421 shared in total
# Holding In IEFA In VEA Overlap
1 ASML Holding N.V. 2.21% 1.77% 1.77%
2 Novartis AG 1.11% 1.01% 1.01%
3 ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.16% 1.01% 1.01%
4 HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.24% 0.97% 0.97%
5 Roche Holding AG 1.13% 0.96% 0.96%
6 SHELL PLC 1.02% 0.90% 0.90%
7 Nestle S.A. 1.03% 0.87% 0.87%
8 TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 0.71% 0.76% 0.71%
9 COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.83% 0.67% 0.67%
10 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 0.80% 0.64% 0.64%
11 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 0.89% 0.61% 0.61%
12 BHP GROUP LIMITED 0.79% 0.61% 0.61%

Only in IEFA

200 total
  • SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY S.A. 0.28%
  • TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED 0.16%
  • SEA LIMITED 0.13%
  • Nebius Group N.V. 0.12%
  • AerCap Holdings N.V. 0.09%
  • CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD. 0.04%
  • GRAB HOLDINGS LIMITED 0.04%
  • YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING (HOLDINGS) LTD. 0.04%
  • Futu Holdings Limited 0.04%
  • MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR S.A. 0.03%

Only in VEA

1,460 total
  • Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.88%
  • SK hynix Inc 1.05%
  • Royal Bank of Canada 0.78%
  • Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 0.54%
  • Enbridge Inc 0.40%
  • Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd 0.35%
  • Canadian Natural Resources Ltd 0.34%
  • Bank of Montreal 0.33%
  • Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 0.31%
  • Bank of Nova Scotia/The 0.30%

Open IEFA or VEA at a brokerage

Both funds trade commission-free at major US brokerages.

Open at Fidelity

Affiliate links — opening an account through these earns PlainIndex a one-time referral. Scoring is computed before any affiliate consideration; see our methodology and funding disclosure.

Holdings overlap is the sum of min(weight_a, weight_b) over positions matched on ISIN (CUSIP fallback). Methodology: see /methodology/.

Comparing two funds doesn't endorse swapping one for the other. Tax-lot history, account type, and personal goals matter — PlainIndex publishes data and methodology, not investment advice.