Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EFA vs MDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EFA returned +12.1% to MDY's +12.8%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $76.8bn for iShares MSCI EAFE ETF and $25.9bn for SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
MDY costs 0.09 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; EFA is 3.0 times larger.
| Measure | EFA | MDY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +12.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | 6.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE Index | S&P MidCap 400 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.32% | 0.23% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $76.8bn | $25.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 14.3% | 7.5% |
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; MDY against IJH, Jun 2, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026.
MDY returned more: +862.5% to +367.2%. EFA swung slightly less: 18.8% to 20.5%. MDY fell slightly less at its worst: −54.9% to −59.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EFA | MDY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +367.2% | +862.5% | MDY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.3% | +9.4% | MDY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +139.2% | +612.1% | MDY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.8% | 20.5% | EFA (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 14.5% | EFA (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −59.4% | −54.9% | MDY (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 95.1% | 99.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.33 | 0.45 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.45 | 0.64 | MDY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.055 | 0.089 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.11 | 0.17 | MDY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | IJH | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | −0.63 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.4% | −0.8% to +0.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.08 | −0.11 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.2% | 1.7% | 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 MDY hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EFA and MDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EFA and MDY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EFA follows MSCI EAFE Index and MDY follows S&P MidCap 400 Index.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Size. EFA has $76.8bn in net assets and MDY $25.9bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); EFA is 3.0 times larger.
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.
MDY
MDY tracks the S&P MidCap 400. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.23% 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 401 positions, with the top ten at 7.5%. It sat 6.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EFA or MDY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and MDY +12.8%.
- Which is cheaper, EFA or MDY?
- MDY is cheaper, by 0.09 percentage points a year. That is about $9 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 MDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-mdy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EFA against MDY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-mdy
[EFA against MDY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-mdy)
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