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

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +13.8% and IQLT +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, EFA or IQLT?

IQLT is cheaper, by 0.02 percentage points a year. That is about $2 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

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EFA vs IQLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

EFA and IQLT hold 45% of their weight in the same names, and IQLT returned +14.8% over the year. Net assets on Oct 9, 2026: $76.5bn for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF and $13.6bn for iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF.

IQLT costs 0.02 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; EFA is 5.6 times larger.

	EFA	IQLT
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.30%
Net assets	$76.5bn	$13.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+13.8%	+14.8%
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE Index	not read by ETFIQ
Holdings in common	45%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.2%	23.7%
Below its high	5.0%, high on Aug 25, 2026	4.8%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+13.8%

EFA total return, 1 year

+14.8%

IQLT total return, 1 year

0.32%

EFA expense ratio

0.30%

IQLT expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, EFA and IQLT hold 45% 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 Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

50%

half

45% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding EFA IQLT

ASML HOLDING 3.35% 6.01%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.40% 2.20%

SHELL 1.36% 1.85%

NOVARTIS AG 1.22% 1.67%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.12% 1.59%

NESTLE SA 1.11% 1.69%

BHP GROUP LTD 1.02% 1.54%

ADVANTEST 0.89% 2.24%

ALLIANZ 0.83% 2.57%

TOKYO ELECTRON 0.81% 1.40%

TOTALENERGIES 0.80% 1.34%

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 0.76% 1.30%

Only in EFA

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.47%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 1.12%

SIEMENS N AG 1.01%

SAP 0.99%

BANCO SANTANDER 0.90%

TOYOTA MOTOR 0.82%

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.81%

HITACHI 0.74%

Only in IQLT

CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LTD 1.01%

MANULIFE FINANCIAL 0.83%

SUNCOR ENERGY INC 0.66%

AGNICO EAGLE MINES 0.58%

CELESTICA 0.52%

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC 0.51%

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY 0.50%

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP 0.45%

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On the same fields

EFA

iShares MSCI EAFE ETF

IQLT

iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

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

Total return, 1 year +13.8% +14.8%

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

Gap to the S&P 500 −3.5 pts −2.5 pts

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.30%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 659 294

Net assets $76.5bn $13.6bn

EFA and IQLT 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.

IQLT in plain words

IQLT tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.30% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 294 positions, with the top ten at 23.7%. 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, EFA or IQLT?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +13.8% and IQLT +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, EFA or IQLT?: IQLT is cheaper, by 0.02 percentage points a year. That is about $2 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EFA and IQLT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EFA and 0% of IQLT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EFA vs ESGD EFA vs FENI ACWX vs EFA EFA vs VIGI IQLT vs VEU IQLT vs SCHF IQLT vs IXUS IQLT vs SPDW

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

Where these figures came from

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

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 IQLT, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-iqlt

Open data

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