ETF comparison
IEFA vs VEA
Both International Developed.
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF · Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets Index Fund ETF Shares
Holdings overlap
2,400 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of IEFA and VEA would leave roughly 75.3% 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
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
2,400 shared in total| # | Holding | In IEFA | In VEA | Overlap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASML Holding N.V. | 2.50% | 2.36% | 2.36% |
| 2 | HSBC HOLDINGS PLC | 1.42% | 1.00% | 1.00% |
| 3 | Novartis AG | 1.12% | 0.90% | 0.90% |
| 4 | Roche Holding AG | 1.20% | 0.89% | 0.89% |
| 5 | ASTRAZENECA PLC | 1.00% | 0.87% | 0.87% |
| 6 | Nestle S.A. | 1.00% | 0.82% | 0.82% |
| 7 | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | 0.95% | 0.73% | 0.73% |
| 8 | SHELL PLC | 1.00% | 0.67% | 0.67% |
| 9 | Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. | 0.93% | 0.67% | 0.67% |
| 10 | BHP GROUP LIMITED | 0.83% | 0.65% | 0.65% |
| 11 | Banco Santander, S.A. | 0.79% | 0.62% | 0.62% |
| 12 | COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA | 0.82% | 0.59% | 0.59% |
Only in IEFA
213 total- SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY S.A. 0.29%
- TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED 0.16%
- SEA LIMITED 0.16%
- Nebius Group N.V. 0.15%
- AerCap Holdings N.V. 0.10%
- CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES LTD. 0.04%
- MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR S.A. 0.04%
- GRAB HOLDINGS LIMITED 0.03%
- YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING (HOLDINGS) LTD. 0.03%
- HKT Trust and HKT Limited 0.03%
Only in VEA
1,462 total- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.61%
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.55%
- SK hynix Inc 1.39%
- Royal Bank of Canada 0.90%
- Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 0.63%
- Bank of Montreal 0.39%
- Enbridge Inc 0.37%
- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 0.35%
- Bank of Nova Scotia/The 0.33%
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce 0.33%
Related comparisons
More comparisons with IEFA
- IEFA vs DFAI · Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF 75.2%
- IEFA vs SPDW · State Street SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF 74.7%
- IEFA vs ESGD · iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF 63.6%
- IEFA vs IEUR · iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF 61.7%
- IEFA vs PXF · Invesco RAFI Developed Markets ex-U.S. ETF 61.5%
- IEFA vs IXUS · iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF 59.9%
More comparisons with VEA
- VEA vs IXUS · iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF 71.7%
- VEA vs VEU · Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Index Fund ETF Shares 71.3%
- VEA vs ACWX · iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF 71.3%
- VEA vs VXUS · Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF Shares 71.1%
- VEA vs DFAI · Dimensional International Core Equity Market ETF 69.2%
- VEA vs DBEF · Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF 65.7%
Percentages are holdings overlap with the named fund.
Open IEFA or VEA 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.