FDEV vs MFDX

FDEVAFidelity International Multifactor ETF

MFDXCPIMCO RAFI Dynamic Multi-Factor International Equity ETF

In short

FDEV Four factors (value, quality, momentum, low volatility) blended into one developed-markets index fund at 0.18% a year. Fidelity's answer to paying up for a single-factor tilt overseas.

MFDX PIMCO's answer to the plain international index fund: one Research Affiliates multi-factor benchmark covering roughly 1,200 developed-market stocks outside the US, in a single ticker instead of four style funds bolted together.

Stated mandate

FDEV The fund seeks returns generally corresponding to the Fidelity International Multifactor Index before fees and expenses.

MFDX The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the RAFI Dynamic Multi-Factor Developed Ex-U.S. Index.

Why people hold it

• FDEV 0.18% a year, less than half the typical fee in its international multifactor group, and within a rounding error of the cheapest name there (INTF at 0.16%).
• One index does the work of four screens: value, quality, momentum and low volatility applied together, instead of you stacking separate single-factor funds.
• Roughly 220 developed-market stocks outside the US, picked by published index rules rather than a manager's hunches, with cash paid out quarterly.
• Sits in the top quartile of a 29-fund international factor cohort, which is a crowded field full of far pricier attempts at the same job.

• MFDX Breadth is the standout. Roughly 1,200 developed-market names outside the US, one of the most broadly diversified portfolios in its multi-factor peer group.
• One wrapper, several factors. The RAFI Dynamic Multi-Factor Developed Ex-U.S. Index is the only benchmark, so the factor mix arrives without stacking separate style ETFs.
• Live since 2017, giving it a real multi-year record through several market moods rather than a backtest and a launch party.
• Distributions land quarterly, the standard rhythm for developed-market equity funds.

Worth knowing

• FDEV Thinly traded. Spreads can quietly cost more than the fee, so limit orders matter more here than with the category's household names.
• A 2019 launch still in the mid-size asset range, so there is no decades-long record to lean on the way older international index funds offer.
• Blending four factors means none of them drives the bus. When value or momentum alone runs hot, this owns only a slice of that move.

• MFDX At 0.40% a year it runs slightly above the typical fund in this cohort, and noticeably above cheaper rivals like INTF at 0.16% and GSIE at 0.25%.
• It trades thinly next to the category's household names, which is where limit orders and avoiding the opening bell earn their keep.
• Factor tilts mean the portfolio can look and behave differently from a plain developed-markets tracker, in either direction.

Full FDEV profile⁠

Full MFDX profile⁠