ETF comparison
EWS vs IEFA
Both International Developed.
Holdings overlap
16 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of EWS and IEFA would leave roughly 1.6% of each dollar exposed to the same underlying securities.
Unmatched is the part of a fund's weight the other fund doesn't match: names only it holds, plus any extra weight it puts in names both funds hold.
Side by side
Sub-score comparison
Tracking quality isn't part of the composite — see what we don't score for why.
Cost difference
IEFA is 43 bps cheaper than EWS. On a $100,000 position that's about $430/yr more in fees for EWS.
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 EWS vs IEFA.
Top shared holdings
16 shared in total| # | Holding | In EWS | In IEFA | Overlap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD | 24.02% | 0.46% | 0.46% |
| 2 | OVERSEA-CHINESE BANKING CORPORATION LIMITED | 20.37% | 0.29% | 0.29% |
| 3 | UNITED OVERSEAS BANK LIMITED | 4.26% | 0.16% | 0.16% |
| 4 | SEA LIMITED | 3.66% | 0.16% | 0.16% |
| 5 | SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED | 3.90% | 0.10% | 0.10% |
| 6 | SINGAPORE EXCHANGE LIMITED | 5.25% | 0.06% | 0.06% |
| 7 | KEPPEL LTD. | 3.64% | 0.05% | 0.05% |
| 8 | SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ENGINEERING LTD | 4.92% | 0.05% | 0.05% |
| 9 | CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust | 2.77% | 0.05% | 0.05% |
| 10 | SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED | 4.21% | 0.04% | 0.04% |
| 11 | GRAB HOLDINGS LIMITED | 3.63% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
| 12 | CapitaLand Ascendas REIT | 4.21% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
Only in EWS
1 total- BNP Paribas 0.01%
Only in IEFA
2,597 total- ASML Holding N.V. 2.50%
- HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.42%
- Roche Holding AG 1.20%
- Novartis AG 1.12%
- Nestle S.A. 1.00%
- ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.00%
- SHELL PLC 1.00%
- Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 0.95%
- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. 0.93%
- BHP GROUP LIMITED 0.83%
Related comparisons
More comparisons with EWS
- EWS vs EFG · iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF 1.6%
- EWS vs AVIV · Avantis International Large Cap Value ETF 1.5%
- EWS vs DBEF · Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF 1.5%
- EWS vs BBIN · JPMorgan BetaBuilders International Equity ETF 1.5%
- EWS vs JIRE · JPMorgan International Research Enhanced Equity ETF 1.5%
- EWS vs ESGD · iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF 1.4%
More comparisons with IEFA
- IEFA vs SPEM · State Street SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF 0.2%
- IEFA vs PXH · Invesco RAFI Emerging Markets ETF 0.1%
- IEFA vs FNDE · Schwab Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity ETF 0.1%
- IEFA vs VWO · Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets Index Fund ETF Shares 0.0%
- IEFA vs ILF · iShares Latin America 40 ETF 0.0%
- IEFA vs SCHE · Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF 0.0%
Percentages are holdings overlap with the named fund.
Open EWS or IEFA at a brokerage
Both funds trade commission-free at major US brokerages.
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.