Which returned more over the last year, EFA or ILOW?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +13.8% and ILOW +9.0%.

Which is cheaper, EFA or ILOW?

EFA is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do EFA and ILOW overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EFA and 1% of ILOW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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EFA vs ILOW: Differences, Returns & Fees

EFA and ILOW hold 21% of their weight in the same names, and EFA returned +13.8% over the year. Net assets: $76.5bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, and $1.8bn on Oct 8, 2026 for AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF.

EFA costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.8 points; EFA is far larger, $76.0bn against $1.8bn.

	EFA	ILOW
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.50%
Net assets, as of Oct 8, 2026	$76.0bn	$1.8bn
Total return, 1 year	+13.8%	+9.0%
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE Index	No index, actively managed
Holdings in common	21%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.2%	20.7%
Below its high	5.0%, high on Aug 25, 2026	4.9%, high on Aug 25, 2026

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

+13.8%

EFA total return, 1 year

+9.0%

ILOW total return, 1 year

0.32%

EFA expense ratio

0.50%

ILOW expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, EFA and ILOW hold 21% 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 May 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

50%

half

21% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding EFA ILOW

ASML HOLDING 3.35% 2.87%

SHELL 1.36% 1.33%

NOVARTIS AG 1.22% 1.95%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.12% 1.67%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 1.12% 1.51%

SAP 0.99% 0.95%

TOTALENERGIES 0.80% 1.08%

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 0.76% 2.10%

HITACHI 0.74% 1.34%

SUMITOMO MITSUI FINANCIAL GROUP 0.71% 1.45%

ABB LTD 0.69% 1.77%

SONY GROUP 0.64% 1.33%

Only in EFA

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.47%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.40%

NESTLE SA 1.11%

BHP GROUP LTD 1.02%

SIEMENS N AG 1.01%

BANCO SANTANDER 0.90%

ADVANTEST 0.89%

ALLIANZ 0.83%

Only in ILOW

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2.50%

Prysmian SpA 2.13%

Enel SpA 1.71%

Tryg A/S 1.66%

Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 1.57%

KBC Group NV 1.50%

UniCredit SpA 1.48%

Nordea Bank Abp 1.47%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

EFA

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

ILOW

AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares AllianceBernstein

What it is Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +13.8% +9.0%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 −3.5 pts −8.2 pts

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.50%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.6%

Holdings 659 84

Net assets, EFA as of Oct 9, 2026 and ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026 $76.5bn $1.8bn

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

EFA in plain words

EFA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.32% 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 659 positions, with the top ten at 14.2%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

ILOW in plain words

ILOW is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +9.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 1% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 20.7%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EFA or ILOW?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +13.8% and ILOW +9.0%.
Which is cheaper, EFA or ILOW?: EFA is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EFA and ILOW overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EFA and 1% of ILOW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EFA vs IMFL EFA vs GSID EFA vs IDMO EFA vs VIGI ILOW vs VXUS IEFA vs ILOW ILOW vs VEA ILOW vs VEU

EFA on its own →ILOW on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

EFA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗EFA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for EFA ↗ILOW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ILOW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, EFA against ILOW, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-ilow

Open data

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