EFAV vs GMOI

EFAVAiShares MSCI EAFE Min Vol Factor ETF

GMOICGMO International Value ETF

In short

EFAV The 2011 original for overseas min vol: roughly 300 developed-market stocks outside the US and Canada, picked for lower-volatility traits, at 0.20% a year. One of the strongest builds in its international factor group.

GMOI GMO made its name running valuation-driven money for institutions. GMOI is that machinery in an ETF wrapper: an active portfolio of the international stocks GMO's own models read as deepest value, not the ones an index labels that way.

Stated mandate

EFAV The fund seeks to track an index of developed-market equities outside the United States and Canada that have lower-volatility characteristics.

GMOI The Fund seeks total return.

Why people hold it

• EFAV Charges 0.20% a year, less than half the typical fee among international factor funds.
• Running since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, one of the longer records in the international factor aisle.
• Spreads across about 300 names and follows the MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index, so the low-vol call is rules-based rather than a manager's hand-picked list.ishares.com
• Stands among the strongest implementations in its 18-fund international factor peer group.

• GMOI Actively managed, not index-following. GMO's Systematic Equity team selects the international names its proprietary valuation models identify as most undervalued.gmo.comsec.gov
• The valuation work covers tangible and intangible assets, so cheapness comes from GMO's own return forecasts rather than reported book value alone.sec.gov
• The mandate reaches both developed and emerging markets, a wider net than the developed-only factor funds it sits beside, such as IDMO and QLVD.
• Pays quarterly, and the stated goal is total return, so income arrives as a byproduct of the holdings rather than something the strategy chases.

Worth knowing

• EFAV The min-vol screen reshapes the lineup, so sector and country weights can sit well away from a plain EAFE index fund and results diverge from it.
• QLVD runs a developed ex-US low-volatility mandate for 0.15%, so cheaper shelf-mates exist in the same aisle.
• Coverage stops at developed markets outside the US and Canada, leaving emerging markets and Canadian stocks to other holdings.ishares.com

• GMOI 0.60% a year runs above the typical international factor ETF and well above index peers like QLVD (0.15%) and EFAV (0.20%). Active stock picking is what the extra buys.
• Deep value is a narrow slice by design. The portfolio can look nothing like a broad international index and travel a very different path from one.gmo.com
• The ETF launched in October 2024. GMO has run value strategies far longer, but this fund's own record is still short.

Full EFAV profile⁠

Full GMOI profile⁠