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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWL returned +14.5% and HDEF +17.8%.

Which is cheaper, EWL 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 EWL and HDEF overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EWL vs HDEF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWL returned +14.5% to HDEF's +17.8%; 20% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $3.0bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI Switzerland ETF, and $2.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Xtrackers MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Equity ETF.

EWL on its own →HDEF on its own →

At a glance

+14.5%

EWL total return, 1 year

+17.8%

HDEF total return, 1 year

0.50%

EWL expense ratio

0.09%

HDEF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

HDEF costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.3 points; EWL is 1.3 times larger.

EWL vs HDEF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EWL	HDEF
Return
Measure	EWL	HDEF
Total return, 1 year	+14.5%	+17.8%
Benchmark
Measure	EWL	HDEF
What it tracks	MSCI Switzerland 25/50 Index	MSCI EAFE High Dividend Yield Index
Cost and size
Measure	EWL	HDEF
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$2.9bn	$2.3bn
Holdings
Measure	EWL	HDEF
Holdings in common	20%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	65.3%	41.1%

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

What they share

20%

By the books each fund has filed, EWL and HDEF hold 20% 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

20% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first EWL HDEF

ROCHE PS PAR AG 14.99% 5.02%

NESTLE SA 11.36% 4.99%

NOVARTIS AG 12.54% 4.98%

ZURICH INSURANCE GROUP AG 4.57% 2.60%

SWISS RE AG 2.82% 1.09%

PARTNERS GROUP HOLDING AG 1.01% 0.55%

SWISSCOM AG 1.31% 0.55%

SGS SA 1.32% 0.46%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in EWL

UBS GROUP AG 5.83%

ABB LTD 3.88%

COMPAGNIE FINANCIERE RICHEMONT SA 3.87%

LONZA GROUP AG 2.94%

GIVAUDAN SA 2.50%

GALDERMA GROUP N AG 2.33%

SANDOZ GROUP AG 2.33%

HOLCIM LTD AG 2.27%

Only in HDEF

SHELL PLC 4.75%

TOTALENERGIES SE 4.21%

ALLIANZ SE 4.14%

NOVO NORDISK A/S 3.59%

IBERDROLA SA 3.37%

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC 3.04%

UNILEVER PLC 3.02%

DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD 2.47%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

EWL iShares MSCI Switzerland 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 +14.5% +17.8%

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

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 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 43 114

Net assets, EWL as of Oct 28, 2026 and HDEF as of Oct 27, 2026 $3.0bn $2.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

EWL

EWL tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.5% 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 43 positions, with the top ten at 65.3%.

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, EWL or HDEF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWL returned +14.5% and HDEF +17.8%.
Which is cheaper, EWL 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 EWL and HDEF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of EWL and 0% of HDEF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EWL vs EWP EWL vs HEDJ EWL vs IEV EWL vs FEZ HDEF vs HEDJ HDEF vs IDV BBEU vs HDEF HDEF vs IEUR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EWL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EWL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EWL ↗

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

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