Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or IQLT?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +13.9% and IQLT +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, IEFA or IQLT?

IEFA 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 IEFA and IQLT overlap with the S&P 500?

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

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IEFA vs IQLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

IEFA and IQLT hold 39% of their weight in the same names, and IQLT returned +14.8% over the year. Net assets on Oct 9, 2026: $189.5bn for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF and $13.6bn for iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF.

IEFA costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.9 points; IEFA is 13.9 times larger.

	IEFA	IQLT
Expense ratio	0.07%	0.30%
Net assets	$189.5bn	$13.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+13.9%	+14.8%
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE IMI Index	not read by ETFIQ
Holdings in common	39%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	12.2%	23.7%
Below its high	4.8%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+13.9%

IEFA total return, 1 year

+14.8%

IQLT total return, 1 year

0.07%

IEFA expense ratio

0.30%

IQLT expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, IEFA and IQLT hold 39% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Oct 8, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

50%

half

39% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding IEFA IQLT

ASML HOLDING 2.87% 6.01%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.20% 2.20%

SHELL 1.17% 1.85%

NOVARTIS AG 1.05% 1.67%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 0.96% 1.59%

NESTLE SA 0.95% 1.69%

BHP GROUP LTD 0.88% 1.54%

ADVANTEST 0.77% 2.24%

ALLIANZ 0.71% 2.57%

TOKYO ELECTRON 0.69% 1.40%

TOTALENERGIES 0.68% 1.34%

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC 0.65% 1.30%

Only in IEFA

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.26%

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.95%

SIEMENS N AG 0.87%

SAP 0.85%

BANCO SANTANDER 0.77%

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.70%

TOYOTA MOTOR 0.70%

HITACHI 0.63%

Only in IQLT

CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES LTD 1.01%

MANULIFE FINANCIAL 0.83%

SUNCOR ENERGY INC 0.66%

AGNICO EAGLE MINES 0.58%

CELESTICA 0.52%

SUN LIFE FINANCIAL INC 0.51%

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY 0.50%

INTACT FINANCIAL CORP 0.45%

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On the same fields

IEFA

iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

IQLT

iShares MSCI Intl Quality Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI EAFE Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +13.9% +14.8%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 −3.3 pts −2.5 pts

Expense ratio 0.07% 0.30%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 2628 294

Net assets $189.5bn $13.6bn

IEFA and IQLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

IEFA in plain words

IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +13.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,628 positions, with the top ten at 12.2%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

IQLT in plain words

IQLT tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.30% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 294 positions, with the top ten at 23.7%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or IQLT?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +13.9% and IQLT +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, IEFA or IQLT?: IEFA 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 IEFA and IQLT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of IEFA and 0% of IQLT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

CORO vs IEFA DFAI vs IEFA ACWX vs IEFA DBEF vs IEFA IQLT vs VXUS IQLT vs VEA IQLT vs VEU IQLT vs SCHF

IEFA on its own →IQLT on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

IEFA and IQLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗IEFA and IQLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for IEFA ↗iShares page for IQLT ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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, IEFA against IQLT, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-iqlt

Open data

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