Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EFA vs SCHF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EFA returned +12.1% to SCHF's +17.6%; 56% 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 $69.7bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab International Equity ETF.
Pair scorecard
SCHF costs 0.29 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.5 points.
| Measure | EFA | SCHF |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +17.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | 4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE Index | FTSE Developed ex US Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.32% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, EFA as of Oct 27, 2026 and SCHF as of Aug 31, 2026 | $76.8bn | $69.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 56% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 14.3% | 13.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 884 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EFA against ACWX, Apr 11, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; SCHF against EFA, Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
SCHF returned slightly more: +222.5% to +201.5%. EFA and SCHF swung about the same: 17.2% and 17.1%. EFA and SCHF fell about the same at their worst: −33.4% and −33.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EFA | SCHF | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +201.5% | +222.5% | SCHF (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.7% | +7.1% | SCHF (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +82.0% | +106.8% | SCHF | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.2% | 17.1% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.2% | 12.1% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.4% | −33.8% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 95.1% | 99.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.5% | 99.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 0.99 | 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 | 0.38 | 0.40 | SCHF (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.53 | 0.56 | SCHF (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.055 | 0.069 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.21 | SCHF (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | EFA | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | 1.02 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.4% to +2.4% | −0.4% to +1.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.08 | 0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.2% | 1.9% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 884 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EFA and SCHF hold 56% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
56% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EFA and SCHF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EFA and SCHF are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. EFA follows MSCI EAFE Index and SCHF follows FTSE Developed ex US Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EFA returned +12.1% and SCHF +17.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.5 points.
- Cost. EFA charges 0.32% of assets a year and SCHF 0.03%, a gap of 0.29 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.
SCHF
SCHF tracks an index of International Equity. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,475 positions, with the top ten at 13.8%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, EFA or SCHF?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and SCHF +17.6%.
- Which is cheaper, EFA or SCHF?
- SCHF is cheaper, by 0.29 percentage points a year. That is about $29 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 SCHF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-schf
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EFA against SCHF. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-schf
[EFA against SCHF (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-schf)
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