QEFA vs VEU: Differences, Returns & Fees

Over the year to Oct 21, 2026, QEFA and VEU finished level, +16.1% against +16.5%, and they share 45% of their weight. Net assets: $1.0bn on Oct 20, 2026 for State Street SPDR MSCI EAFE StrategicFactors ETF, and $68.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE All World Ex US ETF.

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Answers cite the figures on this page.

VEU costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; VEU is far larger, $68.1bn against $1.0bn.

QEFA vs VEU: Differences, Returns & Fees
QEFAVEU
Expense ratio0.30%0.04%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026$1.0bn$68.1bn
Total return, 1 year+16.1%+16.5%
What it tracksMSCI EAFE Factor Mix A-Series IndexFTSE All-World ex US Index
Holdings in common45%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund15.1%15.2%
Below its high4.7%, high on Sep 4, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 20, 2026.

+16.1%
QEFA total return, 1 year
+16.5%
VEU total return, 1 year
0.30%
QEFA expense ratio
0.04%
VEU expense ratio

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Client brief · page 1 of 2Report BR-F86097DE81

QEFA and VEU are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

  1. What each follows. QEFA follows MSCI EAFE Factor Mix A-Series Index and VEU follows FTSE All-World ex US Index.
  2. Holdings in common. 45% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 20, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
  3. Number of holdings. QEFA holds 626 positions and VEU holds 3816.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.

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What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, QEFA and VEU hold 45% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 20, 2026.

half

45% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding QEFA VEU
ASML HOLDING NV 2.02% 1.71%
ROCHE HOLDING AG 2.01% 0.72%
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC 0.69% 0.84%
SHELL PLC 1.40% 0.68%
NOVARTIS AG REG 2.00% 0.66%
ASTRAZENECA PLC 1.58% 0.60%
NESTLE SA REG 1.60% 0.58%
BHP GROUP LTD 0.99% 0.53%
SAP SE 1.19% 0.51%
TOYOTA MOTOR CORP 0.57% 0.47%
BANCO SANTANDER SA 0.47% 0.49%
MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GRO 0.46% 0.62%
Only in QEFA
HKT TRUST AND HKT LTD SS 0.18%
CHECK POINT SOFTWARE TECH 0.15%
EURO CURRENCY 0.08%
AERCAP HOLDINGS NV 0.06%
STMICROELECTRONICS NV 0.04%
FUTU HOLDINGS LTD ADR 0.03%
SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA 0.03%
DR ING HC F PORSCHE AG 0.02%
Only in VEU
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 4.70%
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 2.24%
SK hynix Inc 1.83%
SLBBH1142 0.91%
Tencent Holdings Ltd 0.84%
Royal Bank of Canada 0.68%
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 0.63%
MediaTek Inc 0.56%

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On the same fields

QEFA
State Street SPDR MSCI EAFE StrategicFactors ETF
VEU
Vanguard FTSE All World Ex US ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
What it is Tracks an index Tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US
Total return, 1 year +16.1% +16.5%
Its benchmark over the same days +16.4% (ACWX) not measured
Gap to its benchmark −0.3 pts vs ACWX not measured
Expense ratio 0.30% 0.04%
Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%
Holdings 626 3816
Net assets, QEFA as of Oct 20, 2026 and VEU as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.0bn $68.1bn

QEFA and VEU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 21, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About QEFA

QEFA tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 21, 2026 it returned +16.1% with distributions reinvested, against +16.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.30% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 20, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 626 positions, with the top ten at 15.1%.

About VEU

VEU tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US. Over the year to Oct 21, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% 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 3,816 positions, with the top ten at 15.2%. It sat 4.7% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 21, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, QEFA or VEU?
In the year to Oct 21, 2026, with distributions reinvested, QEFA returned +16.1% and VEU +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, QEFA or VEU?
VEU is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do QEFA and VEU overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 0% of QEFA and 0% of VEU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
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ETFIQ, QEFA against VEU, data as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/qefa-vs-veu

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