Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EFA vs EWT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EFA returned +12.1% to EWT's +69.9%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $76.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, and $12.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF.
Pair scorecard
EFA costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 57.8 points; EFA is 6.5 times larger.
| Measure | EFA | EWT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +69.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | 7.7%, high on Oct 5, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE Index | MSCI Taiwan 25/50 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.32% | 0.59% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $76.8bn | $11.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 14.3% | 47.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Aug 24, 2001 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,313 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EFA against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; EWT against EEM, Apr 25, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026.
EWT returned more: +1,237.7% to +367.2%. EFA swung less: 18.8% to 25.0%. EWT fell slightly less at its worst: −57.9% to −59.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EFA | EWT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +367.2% | +1,237.7% | EWT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.3% | +10.8% | EWT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +139.2% | +496.0% | EWT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.8% | 25.0% | EFA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 17.3% | EFA | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −59.4% | −57.9% | EWT (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 95.1% | 78.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 88.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 0.82 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.67 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.33 | 0.47 | EWT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.45 | 0.67 | EWT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.055 | 0.155 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.11 | 0.19 | EWT | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | EEM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | +4.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | 1.63 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.4% | −0.9% to +9.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.08 | 0.19 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.2% | 13.9% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,313 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EFA and EWT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EFA and EWT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EFA and EWT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EFA follows MSCI EAFE Index and EWT follows MSCI Taiwan 25/50 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EFA returned +12.1% and EWT +69.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 57.8 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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EFA
EFA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% 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 665 positions, with the top ten at 14.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
EWT
EWT tracks the MSCI Taiwan. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +69.9% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% 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 79 positions, with the top ten at 47.7%. It sat 7.7% below its high of Oct 5, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EFA or EWT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and EWT +69.9%.
- Which is cheaper, EFA or EWT?
- EFA is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, EFA against EWT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ewt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EFA against EWT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ewt
[EFA against EWT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ewt)
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