FNDF vs VEA

FNDFBSchwab Fundamental International Large Company Index ETF

VEAAVanguard FTSE 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.

VEA Everything developed outside the US in one line item: roughly 3,900 stocks across Canada, Europe and the Pacific, small caps included. Vanguard has run it since 2007 at three basis points.

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.

VEA Seeks to track the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index through an indexing strategy investing substantially all assets in the index’s large-, mid-, and small-cap stocks across Canada, Europe, and the Pacific region.

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.

• VEA Charges 0.03% a year against a 0.18% median for its peer group. Low cost is the whole point of index exposure, and this sits at the cheap end of it.
• The index reaches down to small caps and keeps Canada in, so you own about 3,900 companies across Canada, Europe and the Pacific, not just the mega-cap layer.vanguard.com
• Tracks its FTSE benchmark closely and trades in heavy volume, which keeps the spread to get in or out slim, whether the order is small or institutional.
• Live since 2007 and one of the largest international stock funds on the market. Distributions come quarterly.

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.

• VEA Developed markets only, and no US stocks. Emerging markets and the home market sit outside the mandate entirely.vanguard.com
• The 0.03% fee is matched, not owned: SPDW and SCHF price the same and IDEV is a hair above. The separator here is index construction, not cost.
• Plain index exposure, no buffer or downside protection. Foreign markets and the small-cap sleeve can swing hard, and the fund holds the full ride.

Full FNDF profile⁠

Full VEA profile⁠