HFXI vs VEA

HFXICNYLI FTSE International Equity Currency Neutral ETF

VEAAVanguard FTSE Developed Markets 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%.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 HFXI profile⁠

Full VEA profile⁠