Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IEFA vs SCHF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEFA returned +12.3% to SCHF's +17.6%; 60% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $190.4bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF, and $69.7bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab International Equity ETF.
Pair scorecard
SCHF costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.3 points.
| Measure | IEFA | SCHF |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.3% | +17.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | 4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI EAFE IMI Index | FTSE Developed ex US Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.07% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, IEFA as of Oct 28, 2026 and SCHF as of Aug 31, 2026 | $190.4bn | $69.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 60% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 12.3% | 13.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and 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; SCHF against EFA, Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
SCHF returned slightly more: +204.1% to +199.1%. IEFA and SCHF swung about the same: 16.2% and 16.0%. IEFA and SCHF fell about the same at their worst: −34.1% and −33.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IEFA | SCHF | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +199.1% | +204.1% | SCHF (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.1% | +8.3% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +100.2% | +105.4% | SCHF (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.2% | 16.0% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.5% | 11.3% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −34.1% | −33.8% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.1% | 99.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.7% | 99.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.45 | 0.46 | SCHF (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.65 | SCHF (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.073 | 0.069 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.24 | SCHF (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWX | EFA | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.8% a year | +0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.96 | 1.02 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.9% to +2.5% | −0.4% to +1.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.25 | 0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.2% | 1.9% | 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 SCHF hold 60% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
60% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IEFA and SCHF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IEFA and SCHF are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index and SCHF follows FTSE Developed ex US Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IEFA returned +12.3% and SCHF +17.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.3 points.
- Holdings in common (similar). 60% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
SCHF
SCHF tracks an index of International Equity. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,475 positions, with the top ten at 13.8%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or SCHF?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and SCHF +17.6%.
- Which is cheaper, IEFA or SCHF?
- SCHF is cheaper, by 0.04 percentage points a year. That is about $4 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.
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ETFIQ, IEFA against SCHF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-schf
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[IEFA against SCHF (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-schf)
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