HFXI vs IEFA

HFXICNYLI FTSE International Equity Currency Neutral ETF

IEFAAiShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF

In short

HFXI Can't decide whether to hedge your overseas currency exposure? HFXI declines to pick a side: it tracks a FTSE index that hedges about half the developed ex-North-America currency exposure back to dollars, reset monthly, for 0.20%.

IEFA Developed markets outside the US and Canada, right down to the small caps: roughly 2,600 stocks for 0.07% a year. The category's workhorse, and one of the biggest, most heavily traded funds on the shelf.

Stated mandate

HFXI The Fund passively seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Developed ex North America 50% Hedged to USD Index before fees and expenses. The index represents developed-market international equities with partial currency hedging against the U.S. dollar.

IEFA The fund seeks to track an index of large-, mid- and small-capitalization developed-market equities outside the United States and Canada.

Why people hold it

• HFXI The half-hedge is the whole idea: the index applies a one-month forward rate to about half its non-dollar holdings, so dollar swings land at roughly half strength either way.sec.gov
• Broad under the hood: about 800 developed-market stocks from outside the US and Canada, held in a plain 1940 Act index wrapper that tracks its benchmark rather than picking names.
• Not a new experiment. Running since 2015, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays quarterly.

• IEFA Charges 0.07% a year, against a 0.18% median for its developed-markets index peers.
• The index reaches past large and mid caps into small caps, so you hold roughly 2,600 names across Europe, Japan and Australasia, not just the blue-chip layer.ishares.com
• Trading since 2012 and now one of the largest and most actively traded funds in its group, which usually means a deep pool of buyers and sellers.
• Sticks tightly to its stated mandate: a plain index wrapper on MSCI EAFE IMI, no active tilts hiding under the hood. Among the stronger builds in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• HFXI At 0.20% it sits above the category's typical fee, and well above unhedged core rivals like VEA and SPDW at 0.03% or IDEV at 0.04%. Currency machinery is not free.
• Half a hedge cuts both ways: when the dollar weakens, an unhedged fund captures all of that currency tailwind while HFXI captures about half.sec.gov
• It trades moderately, not like the category's household-name giants, so spreads and order size matter more here.

• IEFA Not the cheapest option: VEA, SPDW and SCHF each run 0.03%. The few extra basis points buy the EAFE index and its small-cap reach.
• EAFE stops at developed markets and leaves out Canada, so a full international sleeve needs emerging markets (and Canada) from somewhere else.
• Distributions arrive once or twice a year rather than monthly or quarterly.

Full HFXI profile⁠

Full IEFA profile⁠