Which returned more over the last year, EWI or HDEF?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWI returned +11.1% and HDEF +17.8%.

Which is cheaper, EWI or HDEF?

HDEF is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do EWI and HDEF overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWI vs HDEF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWI returned +11.1% to HDEF's +17.8%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.2bn for iShares MSCI Italy ETF and $2.3bn for Xtrackers MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Equity ETF.

EWI on its own →HDEF on its own →

At a glance

+11.1%

EWI total return, 1 year

+17.8%

HDEF total return, 1 year

0.50%

EWI expense ratio

0.09%

HDEF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

HDEF costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points; HDEF is 1.9 times larger.

EWI vs HDEF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWI	HDEF
Return
Measure	EWI	HDEF
Total return, 1 year	+11.1%	+17.8%
Drawdown
Measure	EWI	HDEF
Below its high	11.4%, high on Aug 7, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EWI	HDEF
What it tracks	MSCI Italy 25/50 Index	MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Index
Cost and size
Measure	EWI	HDEF
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.2bn	$2.3bn
Holdings
Measure	EWI	HDEF
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	72.7%	41.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, EWI and HDEF hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 29, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EWI HDEF

ASSICURAZIONI GENERALI 4.84% 0.89%

TERNA RETE ELETTRICA NAZIONALE 2.68% 0.39%

FINECOBANK BANCA FINECO 2.55% 0.36%

SNAM 2.49% 0.36%

UNIPOL ASSICURAZIONI SPA 2.21% 0.22%

BANCA MEDIOLANUM 1.19% 0.12%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EWI

UNICREDIT 16.68%

INTESA SANPAOLO 14.05%

ENEL 11.63%

ENI 5.34%

FERRARI 4.65%

PRYSMIAN 4.15%

BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA SP 3.88%

POSTE ITALIANE 3.76%

Only in HDEF

ROCHE HOLDING AG 5.02%

NESTLE' SA/AG 4.99%

NOVARTIS AG 4.98%

SHELL PLC 4.75%

TOTALENERGIES SE 4.21%

ALLIANZ SE 4.14%

NOVO NORDISK A/S 3.59%

IBERDROLA SA 3.37%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWI iShares MSCI Italy ETF HDEF Xtrackers MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Equity ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Xtrackers

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +11.1% +17.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) +12.1% (EFA)

Gap to its benchmark −3.2 pts vs ACWX +5.7 pts vs EFA

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 26 114

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.2bn $2.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

EWI

EWI tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +11.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% 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 26 positions, with the top ten at 72.7%. It sat 11.4% below its high of Aug 7, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

HDEF

HDEF tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.8% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for May 29, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 114 positions, with the top ten at 41.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, EWI or HDEF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWI returned +11.1% and HDEF +17.8%.
Which is cheaper, EWI or HDEF?: HDEF is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do EWI and HDEF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWI and 0% of HDEF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWI vs EWP EWI vs HEDJ EWI vs EWL EUFN vs EWI HDEF vs IDV HDEF vs IEUR HDEF vs VGK EPOL vs HDEF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EWI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWI ↗

HDEF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

HDEF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Xtrackers 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, EWI against HDEF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewi-vs-hdef

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