FNDF vs IDEV

FNDFBSchwab Fundamental International Large Company Index ETF

IDEVAiShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

In short

FNDF Most developed-international index funds rank companies by market price. FNDF ranks them by fundamental business size and rebalances back to it, a contrarian, value-leaning route through roughly 900 of the same stocks.

IDEV One ticker for the developed world outside America, top to bottom: roughly 2,300 large, mid and small caps for four basis points. iShares built this as a Core building block and priced it like one.

Stated mandate

FNDF The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index representing large companies from developed markets outside the United States, weighted according to fundamental size.

IDEV The fund seeks to track an index of large-, mid-, and small-cap equities from developed markets outside the United States.

Why people hold it

• FNDF Weights companies by fundamental size rather than share price, so each rebalance trims what the market has bid up and tops up what it has marked down.schwabassetmanagement.com
• Roughly 900 large companies from developed markets outside the US, so the value tilt arrives with broad diversification instead of a narrow bet.
• Running since 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund, with a tight record of doing exactly what its RAFI index mandate says.

• IDEV Charges 0.04% a year while the typical developed-markets core fund charges 0.18%. That is roughly a fifth of the usual freight.
• Goes all-cap, not just blue chips: roughly 2,300 large, mid and small companies from developed markets outside the US, so the small end is not left on the cutting room floor.ishares.com
• A plain index wrapper on the MSCI World ex USA IMI Index. No tilts, no manager discretion, and it has run that same mandate since 2017.
• Multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the stronger implementations in a crowded developed-markets core group.

Worth knowing

• FNDF At 0.25%, it runs above the developed-international median of 0.18% and well above plain cap-weighted rivals VEA, SCHF and SPDW at 0.03%.
• Because weights ignore market price, results diverge from cap-weighted developed benchmarks in both directions. The value tilt is the design, not a glitch.schwabassetmanagement.com
• Distributions land on an annual or semiannual schedule, so the cash flow is lumpier than a monthly payer.

• IDEV VEA, SPDW and SCHF each run a basis point cheaper. Pennies on most balances, but IDEV is not the absolute cost floor of the group.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually rather than monthly, so cash arrives in lumps.
• Every holding is priced in a foreign currency, so moves in the dollar show up in your returns alongside the stocks themselves.

Full FNDF profile⁠

Full IDEV profile⁠