Which is cheaper, EFA or YSEP?

EFA charges 0.32% a year and YSEP charges 0.90%, so EFA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are EFA and YSEP the same kind of fund?

No. EFA is an index ETF and YSEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

EFA vs YSEP: how they differ

EFA and YSEP are measured over different days, and EFA charges 0.32% against 0.90%.

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF and FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September.

EFA and YSEP on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	EFA iShares MSCI EAFE ETF	YSEP FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	iShares	First Trust
What it is	Developed markets ex US	Defined outcome, 15% on EFA
Total return, 1 year	+18.2%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	+0.7 pts	not available
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.90%
Holdings	705	not filed

EFA in plain words

EFA is an index equity fund tracking the Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +18.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 705 positions, with the top ten at 13.4%.

YSEP in plain words

EFA had already risen past this fund's cap of +13.1% for the period on Sep 12, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 0.2% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 11.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, EFA can fall 12.8% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's EFA level. 7 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Sep 18, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, EFA or YSEP?: EFA charges 0.32% a year and YSEP charges 0.90%, so EFA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are EFA and YSEP the same kind of fund?: No. EFA is an index ETF and YSEP is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

EFA against YSEP, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, EFA against YSEP, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/EFA-YSEP Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources