Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOXX vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees
BOXX is an actively managed short-term fund and IEFA an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEFA returned +12.3% against +4.0%.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $14.5bn for Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF and $190.4bn for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.
Pair scorecard
IEFA costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.3 points; IEFA is 13.1 times larger.
| Measure | BOXX | IEFA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.0% | +12.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI EAFE IMI Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.07% |
| Net assets | $14.5bn | $190.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Holdings dated | Oct 27, 2026 | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 12.3% | |
Risk and return
Jan 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 198 weekly returnsIEFA returned more: +68.7% to +18.9%. BOXX swung less: 0.2% to 14.7%. BOXX fell less at its worst: −0.1% to −11.9%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOXX | IEFA | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +18.9% | +68.7% | IEFA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.6% | +14.7% | IEFA | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +18.6% | +49.7% | IEFA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 0.2% | 14.7% | BOXX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.2% | 10.2% | BOXX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −0.1% | −11.9% | BOXX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.25 | 0.70 | IEFA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.35 | 1.01 | IEFA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | Not measured | 1.24 | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 198 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
BOXX and IEFA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOXX and IEFA do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOXX follows No index, actively managed and IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BOXX returned +4.0% and IEFA +12.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.3 points.
- Cost. BOXX charges 0.19% of assets a year and IEFA 0.07%, a gap of 0.12 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOXX
BOXX is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year.
IEFA
IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,629 positions, with the top ten at 12.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BOXX or IEFA?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOXX returned +4.0% and IEFA +12.3%.
- Which is cheaper, BOXX or IEFA?
- IEFA is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BOXX against IEFA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-iefa
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BOXX against IEFA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-iefa
[BOXX against IEFA (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-iefa)
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