EFV vs IVAL

EFVAiShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF

IVALDAlpha Architect International Quantitative Value ETF

In short

EFV Running since 2005, EFV is the big, heavily traded way to own the value half of developed markets outside North America: roughly 400 stocks tracking the MSCI EAFE Value Index for 0.31% a year.

IVAL Most international value ETFs spread a mild tilt across hundreds of names. IVAL goes the other way: about 50 stocks, screened for value by Alpha Architect's own index, running since 2014.

Stated mandate

EFV The fund seeks to track an index of developed-market equities outside the United States and Canada that exhibit value characteristics.

IVAL The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Alpha Architect International Quantitative Value Index.

Why people hold it

• EFV 0.31% a year, below the typical fee among international-value funds, for a mandate that has been running since 2005.
• Tracks the MSCI EAFE Value Index closely and trades actively as a multi-billion-dollar fund, which keeps the cost of getting in and out low.
• About 400 developed-market value stocks in one ticker, picked by index rule rather than a manager's judgment.
• Sits among the strongest implementations in its international-value peer group, next to Dimensional's DFIV.

• IVAL Concentrated by design. Holding roughly 50 names means the value screen actually shapes the portfolio instead of being watered down across hundreds of positions.
• One rulebook, one shop. Alpha Architect wrote the index it tracks, so the value methodology and the fund come from the same source rather than a licensed third-party screen.
• Launched in December 2014, so this is a live decade-plus record of the strategy in international markets, not a backtest.
• Pays distributions quarterly, the standard cadence for equity funds in this corner of the market.

Worth knowing

• EFV By design it holds only the cheap side of the EAFE universe, so its sector mix and results can look very different from a broad international index.
• Developed markets only: no US, no Canada, no emerging markets. It's a slice of international, not the whole thing.
• Not the cheapest seat in the room: FIVA runs 0.18% for its own version of international value.

• IVAL The 0.38% fee sits above the typical international value fund, and cheaper options cover overlapping ground: FIVA at 0.18%, DFIV at 0.27%, EFV at 0.31%.
• Thinly traded compared with the big names in its category, so the bid-ask spread is a real part of the cost, particularly on larger orders.
• Concentration cuts both ways. With about 50 holdings, individual stocks and country exposures move results far more than they would in a broad index fund.

Full EFV profile⁠

Full IVAL profile⁠