Are SEA and VGK in the same category?

SEA is a thematic ETF and VGK is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SEA returned +54.4% and VGK +10.4%.

Which is cheaper, SEA or VGK?

VGK is cheaper, by 0.54 percentage points a year. That is about $54 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 9% of SEA and 0% of VGK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SEA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SEA returned +54.4% to VGK's +10.4%, and VGK charges 0.06% to SEA's 0.60%.

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Net assets: $18m on Jun 30, 2026 for U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF, and $29.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF.

SEA on its own →VGK on its own →

At a glance

+54.4%

SEA total return, 1 year

+10.4%

VGK total return, 1 year

0.60%

SEA expense ratio

0.06%

VGK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGK costs 0.54 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 44.0 points.

SEA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SEA	VGK
Return
Measure	SEA	VGK
Total return, 1 year	+54.4%	+10.4%
Drawdown
Measure	SEA	VGK
Below its high		6.1%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SEA	VGK
What it tracks	Shipping, aviation and logistics	FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index
Cost and size
Measure	SEA	VGK
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.06%
Net assets, SEA as of Jun 30, 2026 and VGK as of Sep 30, 2026	$18m	$29.6bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	100%
Holdings
Measure	SEA	VGK
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	45%	19.0%

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

Risk and return

Jan 28, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 247 weekly returns

SEA VGK

Return

Total return edge SEA +79.1% +55.1%

Annualized edge SEA +13.0% +9.7%

Price return edge VGK +9.2% +33.1%

Risk

Volatility edge VGK 23.1% 17.9%

Max drawdown edge VGK −38.4% −28.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SEA 0.47 0.37

Sortino edge SEA 0.69 0.53

Calmar edge Tie 0.34 0.34

Reading

SEA returned more: +79.1% to +55.1%. VGK swung less: 17.9% to 23.1%. VGK fell less at its worst: −28.1% to −38.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SEA vs VGK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SEA	VGK	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+79.1%	+55.1%	SEA	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.0%	+9.7%	SEA	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+9.2%	+33.1%	VGK	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.1%	17.9%	VGK	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	15.6%	12.6%	VGK	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−38.4%	−28.1%	VGK	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.47	0.37	SEA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.69	0.53	SEA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.34	0.34	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 247 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, SEA and VGK hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SEA VGK

Deutsche Post AG 3.15% 0.38%

DSV A/S 3.03% 0.22%

Kuehne + Nagel International A 4.12% 0.08%

Hafnia Ltd 1.90% 0.02%

BW LPG Ltd 3.38% 0.01%

Hoegh Autoliners ASA 3.80% 0.01%

Logista Integral SA 3.05% 0.01%

Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA 4.90% 0.01%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SEA

DHT Holdings Inc 5.12%

OOIL 4.93%

COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co Ltd 4.89%

International Seaways Inc 4.87%

SITC International Holdings Co 4.85%

Global Ship Lease Inc 4.03%

Wan Hai Lines Ltd 3.91%

Scorpio Tankers Inc 3.75%

Only in VGK

ASML Holding NV 4.47%

HSBC Holdings PLC 2.19%

Roche Holding AG 1.89%

Novartis AG 1.72%

Shell PLC 1.64%

AstraZeneca PLC 1.56%

Nestle SA 1.51%

Siemens AG 1.45%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

SEA U.S. Global Sea to Sky Cargo ETF VGK Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer U.S. Global Vanguard

What it is Shipping, aviation and logistics Tracks an index of European Stock

Total return, 1 year +54.4% +10.4%

Expense ratio 0.60% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 9.0% 0.0%

Holdings 29 1245

Net assets, SEA as of Jun 30, 2026 and VGK as of Sep 30, 2026 $18m $29.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D710D53C95

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

What each follows. SEA follows Shipping, aviation and logistics and VGK follows FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index.
Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SEA returned +54.4% and VGK +10.4% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 44.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

SEA

By weight, 9% of SEA's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 45% of the fund across 29 positions, as filed for Jun 30, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +54.4% with distributions reinvested.

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

Are SEA and VGK in the same category?: SEA is a thematic ETF and VGK is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, SEA or VGK?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SEA returned +54.4% and VGK +10.4%.
Which is cheaper, SEA or VGK?: VGK is cheaper, by 0.54 percentage points a year. That is about $54 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do SEA and VGK overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 9% of SEA and 0% of VGK by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SEA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SEA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

U.S. Global website ↗

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

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