Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IEFA vs QQQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEFA returned +12.3% to QQQ's +15.2%; 1% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about IEFA and QQQ
Net assets: $190.4bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, and $483.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1.
Pair scorecard
IEFA costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.9 points; QQQ is 2.5 times larger.
| Measure | IEFA | QQQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.3% | +15.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | 4.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE IMI Index | Nasdaq-100 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.07% | 0.18% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $190.1bn | $483.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 12.3% | 46.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IEFA against ACWX, Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026; QQQ against QQQM, Oct 23, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
QQQ returned more: +1,118.5% to +199.1%. IEFA swung less: 16.2% to 19.0%. IEFA fell slightly less at its worst: −34.1% to −35.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IEFA | QQQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +199.1% | +1,118.5% | QQQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.1% | +19.5% | QQQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +100.2% | +980.9% | QQQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 19.0% | IEFA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.5% | 12.6% | IEFA (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −34.1% | −35.1% | IEFA (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.1% | 100.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.7% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.45 | 0.94 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 1.42 | QQQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.073 | 0.145 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.56 | QQQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | QQQM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.96 | −0.58 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +2.5% | −0.4% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.2% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 729 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IEFA and QQQ hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IEFA and QQQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IEFA and QQQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index and QQQ follows Nasdaq-100 Index.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IEFA returned +12.3% and QQQ +15.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
IEFA
IEFA tracks the MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% 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 2,629 positions, with the top ten at 12.3%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
QQQ
QQQ tracks the Nasdaq-100. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.2% for its benchmark, the Nasdaq-100 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 103 positions, with the top ten at 46.7%. It sat 4.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or QQQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and QQQ +15.2%.
- Which is cheaper, IEFA or QQQ?
- IEFA is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, IEFA against QQQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-qqq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IEFA against QQQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-qqq
[IEFA against QQQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-qqq)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.