EFAX vs ESGD

EFAXAState Street SPDR MSCI EAFE Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF

ESGDAiShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF

In short

EFAX Most ESG funds rebuild the developed-market index around ratings. EFAX makes one cut: companies that own fossil fuel reserves are out. The rest of the EAFE lineup stays put.

ESGD The plain-vanilla international index fund, ESG-screened. Roughly 400 developed-market stocks from outside the US and Canada, tracking an MSCI EAFE ESG Focus index since 2016, for 0.20% a year.

Stated mandate

EFAX The fund seeks to provide returns generally corresponding to the MSCI EAFE ex Fossil Fuels Index before fees and expenses. The index screens the developed-market MSCI EAFE universe to exclude companies with specified fossil-fuel reserves.

ESGD The fund seeks to track an index of international developed-market stocks outside the United States and Canada that have positive aggregate environmental, social, and governance characteristics.

Why people hold it

• EFAX One legible rule: start with MSCI EAFE, drop the companies that hold fossil fuel reserves. No ratings black box to decode.ssga.com
• Still a core-shaped fund, not a narrow slice: about 600 stocks across developed Europe, Australasia and the Far East.
• 0.20% a year, a shade under the typical fee in its international ESG peer group, from a State Street fund running since 2016.

• ESGD Costs 0.20% a year, below the typical fee in its international ESG peer group.
• Roughly 400 stocks spanning developed markets outside the US and Canada: broad-market coverage, not a narrow thematic bet.ishares.com
• Tracks the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index, keeping the familiar developed-markets shape while tilting toward companies with better aggregate ESG characteristics.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund trading since 2016, and one of the sturdier builds in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• EFAX The screen targets reserves ownership, not emissions or labor practices, so refiners, utilities and heavy fuel users can still make the cut.
• Cheaper routes exist on the same aisle: VSGX at 0.10% and DMXF at 0.12% apply broader ESG screens for less.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread is a bigger slice of what it costs to get in and out.

• ESGD Cheaper tickets exist on the same shelf: VSGX at 0.10%, iShares' own DMXF at 0.12%. The fee here buys scale, not the lowest sticker.
• The ESG screen leaves holdings different from a plain EAFE fund, so results can drift from the unscreened index in either direction.
• Moderately traded rather than one of the busiest tapes in the category, and distributions land once or twice a year rather than monthly.

Full EFAX profile⁠

Full ESGD profile⁠