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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and SPY +13.6%.

Which is cheaper, EFA or SPY?

SPY is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EFA and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EFA vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EFA returned +12.1% to SPY's +13.6%; 1% 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 $814.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

EFA on its own →SPY on its own →

At a glance

+12.1%

EFA total return, 1 year

+13.6%

SPY total return, 1 year

0.32%

EFA expense ratio

0.09%

SPY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPY costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.5 points; SPY is 10.6 times larger.

EFA vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EFA	SPY
Return
Measure	EFA	SPY
Total return, 1 year	+12.1%	+13.6%
Drawdown
Measure	EFA	SPY
Below its high	4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EFA	SPY
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE Index	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	EFA	SPY
Expense ratio	0.32%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$76.8bn	$814.8bn
Holdings
Measure	EFA	SPY
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.3%	38.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, EFA and SPY hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EFA SPY

MERCK 0.10% 0.53%

ARISTOCRAT LEISURE 0.11% 0.10%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.58% 0.07%

PRUDENTIAL PLC 0.14% 0.06%

ADMIRAL GROUP PLC 0.06% 0.06%

EQT 0.06% 0.05%

HELVETIA BALOISE HOLDING N AG 0.09% 0.05%

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM N AG 0.45% 0.04%

VINCI SA 0.27% 0.04%

ESSILORLUXOTTICA SA 0.28% 0.04%

TELENOR 0.04% 0.10%

SODEXO SA 0.03% 0.03%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EFA

ASML HOLDING 2.98%

SHELL 1.42%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.38%

NOVARTIS AG 1.33%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.21%

NESTLE SA 1.21%

SAP 1.13%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 1.07%

Only in SPY

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 5.93%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET INC CL A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET INC CL C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.06%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EFA iShares MSCI EAFE ETF SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +12.1% +13.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) +13.7% (VOO)

Gap to its benchmark −2.2 pts vs ACWX −0.1 pts vs VOO

Expense ratio 0.32% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 99.8%

Holdings 665 504

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $76.8bn $814.8bn

EFA and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

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.

SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EFA or SPY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EFA returned +12.1% and SPY +13.6%.
Which is cheaper, EFA or SPY?: SPY is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EFA and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EFA and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EFA vs IVV EFA vs VTI EFA vs VOO EFA vs SPYM SPY vs VXUS IEFA vs SPY SPY vs VEA SCHF vs SPY

Where to next

EFA on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →EFA dividend history →EFA holdings →SPY dividend history →SPY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

EFA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EFA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EFA ↗

SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

State Street website ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, EFA against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/efa-vs-spy

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