Which returned more over the last year, USMV or VEA?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and VEA +17.1%.

Which is cheaper, USMV or VEA?

VEA is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do USMV and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USMV vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% to VEA's +17.1%; 1% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $24.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF, and $231.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF.

USMV on its own →VEA on its own →

At a glance

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

+17.1%

VEA total return, 1 year

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

0.03%

VEA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VEA costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.3 points; VEA is 10.0 times larger.

USMV vs VEA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USMV	VEA
Return
Measure	USMV	VEA
Total return, 1 year	+10.8%	+17.1%
Drawdown
Measure	USMV	VEA
Below its high		4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	USMV	VEA
What it tracks	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index	FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index
Cost and size
Measure	USMV	VEA
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$23.2bn	$231.6bn
Holdings
Measure	USMV	VEA
Holdings in common	1%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	14.8%	13.6%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, USMV and VEA hold 1% 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

1% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first USMV VEA

ROPER TECHNOLOGIES 1.12% 0.91%

WASTE CONNECTIONS 1.30% 0.12%

LOEWS 0.34% 0.07%

ALLSTATE CORP 0.54% 0.07%

MERCK & CO INC 1.37% 0.06%

PPL CORP 0.05% 0.08%

TE CONNECTIVITY PLC 0.58% 0.03%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING INC 0.08% 0.01%

AT&T 0.73% 0.01%

NEWMONT 0.38% 0.01%

EXPAND ENERGY 0.24% 0.01%

REPUBLIC SERVICES INC 1.31% 0.01%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in USMV

MICROSOFT 1.61%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.54%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.50%

CHUBB 1.50%

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC 1.48%

AMPHENOL CORP CLASS A 1.47%

NVIDIA 1.47%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.44%

Only in VEA

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 2.81%

SK hynix Inc 2.30%

ASML Holding NV 2.14%

SLBBH1142 1.07%

HSBC Holdings PLC 1.05%

Shell PLC 0.86%

Royal Bank of Canada 0.85%

Novartis AG 0.82%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor Tracks an index of Developed markets ex US

Total return, 1 year +10.8% +17.1%

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 93.0% 0.0%

Holdings 176 3906

Net assets, USMV as of Oct 27, 2026 and VEA as of Sep 30, 2026 $24.1bn $231.6bn

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

Alert

About each fund

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

VEA

VEA tracks an index of Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% 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 3,906 positions, with the top ten at 13.6%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USMV or VEA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USMV returned +10.8% and VEA +17.1%.
Which is cheaper, USMV or VEA?: VEA is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do USMV and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of USMV and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IEFA vs USMV EFA vs USMV IDEV vs USMV ACWX vs USMV CGGR vs VEA DFUS vs VEA DGRW vs VEA AVUS vs VEA

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

VEA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VEA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VEA ↗

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.

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ETFIQ, USMV against VEA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/usmv-vs-vea

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