A
vs
B
Share
Ask IQ about these two funds

ILOW vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees

ILOW and VEA hold 18% of their weight in the same names, and VEA returned +19.7% over the year. Net assets: $1.8bn on Oct 8, 2026 for AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF, and $231.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF.

VEA costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.7 points.

ILOWVEA
Expense ratio0.50%0.03%
Net assets, ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026$1.8bn$231.6bn
Total return, 1 year+9.0%+19.7%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedFTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index
Holdings in common18%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund20.7%13.0%
Below its high4.9%, high on Aug 25, 20264.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.

+9.0%
ILOW total return, 1 year
+19.7%
VEA total return, 1 year
0.50%
ILOW expense ratio
0.03%
VEA expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, ILOW and VEA hold 18% 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 May 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.

half

18% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding ILOW VEA
ASML Holding NV 2.87% 1.96%
Roche Holding AG 1.78% 0.92%
Novartis AG 1.95% 0.85%
Royal Bank of Canada 0.80% 0.86%
Shell PLC 1.33% 0.77%
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc 1.51% 0.74%
AstraZeneca PLC 1.67% 0.72%
SAP SE 0.95% 0.68%
Toronto-Dominion Bank/The 1.57% 0.61%
Schneider Electric SE 2.10% 0.56%
TotalEnergies SE 1.08% 0.51%
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc 1.45% 0.47%
Only in ILOW
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2.50%
HKT Trust & HKT Ltd 1.16%
Philip Morris International Inc 0.59%
Only in VEA
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 2.61%
SK hynix Inc 2.01%
SLBBH1142 1.25%
HSBC Holdings PLC 1.05%
Nestle SA 0.75%
Siemens AG 0.73%
BHP Group Ltd 0.72%
Banco Santander SA 0.65%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

ILOW
AB International Low Volatility Equity ETF
VEA
Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer AllianceBernstein Vanguard
What it is Actively managed Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US
Total return, 1 year +9.0% +19.7%
S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%
Gap to the S&P 500 −8.2 pts +2.5 pts
Expense ratio 0.50% 0.03%
Already in the S&P 500 0.6% 0.0%
Holdings 84 3898
Net assets, ILOW as of Oct 8, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.8bn $231.6bn

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

ILOW in plain words

ILOW is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +9.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.50% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 1% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 84 positions, with the top ten at 20.7%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

VEA in plain words

VEA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +19.7% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,898 positions, with the top ten at 13.0%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ILOW or VEA?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ILOW returned +9.0% and VEA +19.7%.
Which is cheaper, ILOW or VEA?
VEA is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ILOW and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 1% of ILOW and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
ILOW vs VXUSDFIC vs ILOWILOW vs IQLTCORO vs ILOWDDWM vs VEABKIE vs VEACGIE vs VEACGIC vs VEA
ILOW on its own →VEA on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
ILOW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ILOW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗VEA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VEA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VEA ↗

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, ILOW against VEA, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ilow-vs-vea

Open data

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