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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and SHY +1.6%.

Which is cheaper, IEFA or SHY?

IEFA is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IEFA vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEFA returned +12.3% to SHY's +1.6%; 0% 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 $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF.

IEFA on its own →SHY on its own →

At a glance

+12.3%

IEFA total return, 1 year

+1.6%

SHY total return, 1 year

0.07%

IEFA expense ratio

0.15%

SHY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEFA costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.7 points; IEFA is 6.9 times larger.

IEFA vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IEFA	SHY
Return
Measure	IEFA	SHY
Total return, 1 year	+12.3%	+1.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IEFA	SHY
Below its high	4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IEFA	SHY
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE IMI Index	ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IEFA	SHY
Expense ratio	0.07%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$190.1bn	$27.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IEFA	SHY
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	12.3%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IEFA and SHY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IEFA SHY

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IEFA

ASML HOLDING 2.55%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.36%

SHELL 1.21%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.18%

NOVARTIS AG 1.14%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.04%

NESTLE SA 1.04%

SAP 0.97%

Only in SHY

TREASURY NOTE 2.11%

TREASURY NOTE 1.99%

TREASURY NOTE 1.83%

TREASURY NOTE 1.73%

TREASURY NOTE 1.62%

TREASURY NOTE 1.54%

TREASURY NOTE 1.51%

TREASURY NOTE 1.49%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks the MSCI EAFE Tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond

Total return, 1 year +12.3% +1.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) +1.7% (BBSB)

Gap to its benchmark −2.0 pts vs ACWX −0.1 pts vs BBSB

Expense ratio 0.07% 0.15%

Holdings 2629 90

Net assets, IEFA as of Oct 28, 2026 and SHY as of Oct 27, 2026 $190.4bn $27.4bn

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

Alert

About each fund

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.

SHY

SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or SHY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and SHY +1.6%.
Which is cheaper, IEFA or SHY?: IEFA is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

IEFA vs VGSH IEFA vs IEI IEFA vs SCHP IEFA vs USHY SHY vs VEA SHY vs VXUS SCHF vs SHY SHY vs VEU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IEFA and SHY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IEFA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IEFA ↗

SHY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SHY ↗

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 SHY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iefa-vs-shy

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