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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and VGK +10.4%.

Which is cheaper, IEFA or VGK?

VGK is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IEFA and VGK overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IEFA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IEFA returned +12.3% to VGK's +10.4%; 55% 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 $29.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF.

IEFA on its own →VGK on its own →

At a glance

+12.3%

IEFA total return, 1 year

+10.4%

VGK total return, 1 year

0.07%

IEFA expense ratio

0.06%

VGK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGK costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.9 points; IEFA is 6.4 times larger.

IEFA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IEFA	VGK
Return
Measure	IEFA	VGK
Total return, 1 year	+12.3%	+10.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IEFA	VGK
Below its high	4.7%, high on Aug 25, 2026	6.1%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IEFA	VGK
What it tracks	MSCI EAFE IMI Index	FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index
Cost and size
Measure	IEFA	VGK
Expense ratio	0.07%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$190.2bn	$29.6bn
Holdings
Measure	IEFA	VGK
Holdings in common	55%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	12.3%	19.0%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returns

IEFA VGK

Return

Total return edge Tie +199.1% +195.2%

Annualized edge Tie +8.1% +8.0%

Price return edge IEFA +100.2% +87.2%

Risk

Volatility edge IEFA (slight) 16.2% 17.8%

Max drawdown edge IEFA (slight) −34.1% −36.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IEFA (slight) 0.45 0.42

Sortino edge IEFA (slight) 0.64 0.59

Calmar edge IEFA (slight) 0.24 0.22

Reading

IEFA and VGK returned about the same: +199.1% and +195.2%. IEFA swung slightly less: 16.2% to 17.8%. IEFA fell slightly less at its worst: −34.1% to −36.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IEFA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IEFA	VGK	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+199.1%	+195.2%	Tie	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.1%	+8.0%	Tie	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+100.2%	+87.2%	IEFA	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	16.2%	17.8%	IEFA (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.5%	12.7%	IEFA (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−34.1%	−36.6%	IEFA (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.45	0.42	IEFA (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.64	0.59	IEFA (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.24	0.22	IEFA (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

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

55%

By the books each fund has filed, IEFA and VGK hold 55% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

55% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IEFA VGK

ASML HOLDING 2.55% 4.47%

ROCHE PS PAR AG 1.36% 1.89%

SHELL 1.21% 1.64%

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 1.18% 2.19%

NOVARTIS AG 1.14% 1.72%

ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.04% 1.56%

NESTLE SA 1.04% 1.51%

SAP 0.97% 1.32%

SIEMENS N AG 0.86% 1.45%

ALLIANZ 0.74% 1.16%

BANCO SANTANDER 0.72% 1.29%

TOTALENERGIES 0.72% 1.11%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IEFA

MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP 0.92%

BHP GROUP LTD 0.83%

COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA 0.77%

TOYOTA MOTOR 0.75%

ADVANTEST 0.63%

HITACHI 0.63%

RECRUIT HOLDINGS LTD 0.63%

SONY GROUP 0.60%

Only in VGK

Novo Nordisk A/S 0.78%

Air Liquide SA 0.48%

Muenchener Rueckversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG in Muenchen 0.46%

Investor AB 0.45%

SLBBH1142 0.44%

L'Oreal SA 0.35%

Atlas Copco AB 0.34%

Volvo AB 0.32%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF VGK Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks the MSCI EAFE Tracks an index of European Stock

Total return, 1 year +12.3% +10.4%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.3% (ACWX) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −2.0 pts vs ACWX not measured

Expense ratio 0.07% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 2629 1245

Net assets, IEFA as of Oct 28, 2026 and VGK as of Sep 30, 2026 $190.4bn $29.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D653736995

IEFA and VGK do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. IEFA follows MSCI EAFE IMI Index and VGK follows FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index.
Size. IEFA has $190.2bn in net assets and VGK $29.6bn (net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026); IEFA is 6.4 times larger.
Holdings in common (similar). 55% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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.

VGK

VGK tracks an index of European Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,245 positions, with the top ten at 19.0%. It sat 6.1% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IEFA or VGK?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IEFA returned +12.3% and VGK +10.4%.
Which is cheaper, IEFA or VGK?: VGK is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IEFA and VGK overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of IEFA and 0% of VGK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

EZU vs IEFA IEFA vs IEMG ACWI vs IEFA IEFA vs VYMI VGK vs VXUS VEA vs VGK EFA vs VGK SCHF vs VGK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IEFA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IEFA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IEFA ↗

VGK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGK ↗

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

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