DFSI vs IEFA: Differences, Returns & Fees

DFSI and IEFA hold 43% of their weight in the same names, and IEFA returned +13.9% over the year. Net assets: $1.1bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional International Sustainability Core 1 ETF, and $189.5bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.

IEFA costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.7 points; IEFA is far larger, $190.1bn against $1.1bn.

DFSIIEFA
Expense ratio0.24%0.07%
Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026$1.1bn$190.1bn
Total return, 1 year+12.2%+13.9%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedMSCI EAFE IMI Index
Holdings in common43%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund9.7%12.2%
Below its high5.4%, high on Aug 25, 20264.8%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+12.2%
DFSI total return, 1 year
+13.9%
IEFA total return, 1 year
0.24%
DFSI expense ratio
0.07%
IEFA expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, DFSI and IEFA hold 43% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

half

43% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding DFSI IEFA
ASML Holding N.V. 2.48% 2.87%
Novartis AG 1.09% 1.05%
ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.66% 0.96%
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SE 0.77% 0.65%
Allianz SE 0.61% 0.71%
ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC 0.77% 0.61%
Recruit Holdings Co.,Ltd. 0.67% 0.58%
ABB Ltd 0.56% 0.59%
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION 0.56% 0.70%
ADVANTEST CORPORATION 0.55% 0.77%
Sony Group Corporation 0.57% 0.55%
Hitachi, Ltd. 0.53% 0.63%
Only in DFSI
ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 0.81%
LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SE 0.59%
Siemens Energy AG 0.54%
THE TORONTO-DOMINION BANK 0.54%
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft 0.54%
NOVO NORDISK A/S 0.52%
L'OREAL SA 0.48%
E.ON SE 0.42%
Only in IEFA
ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.20%
SHELL 1.17%
NESTLE SA 0.95%
BHP GROUP LTD 0.88%
SIEMENS N AG 0.87%
TOTALENERGIES 0.68%
KIOXIA HOLDINGS 0.53%
SIEMENS ENERGY N AG 0.50%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

DFSI
Dimensional International Sustainability Core 1 ETF
IEFA
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
What it is Actively managed Tracks the MSCI EAFE
Total return, 1 year +12.2% +13.9%
S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%
Gap to the S&P 500 −5.1 pts −3.3 pts
Expense ratio 0.24% 0.07%
Already in the S&P 500 0.1% 0.0%
Holdings 2798 2628
Net assets, DFSI as of Jul 31, 2026 and IEFA as of Oct 9, 2026 $1.1bn $189.5bn

DFSI and IEFA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

DFSI in plain words

DFSI is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,798 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 5.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

IEFA in plain words

IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +13.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,628 positions, with the top ten at 12.2%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, DFSI or IEFA?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFSI returned +12.2% and IEFA +13.9%.
Which is cheaper, DFSI or IEFA?
IEFA is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFSI and IEFA overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 0% of DFSI and 0% of IEFA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, DFSI against IEFA, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfsi-vs-iefa

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.