etf overlap tool · heavy overlap
VEA vs EFA overlap
98% of EFA's money sits in companies VEA also holds; 65% of the two funds is the same money, spread over 641 companies both hold.
Holdings as of September 30, 2026 · source: Vanguard (VEA), iShares (EFA) · How we measured all 1,431 pairs
- same money
- same companies, extra weight
- only in this fund
Swapping one for the other to harvest a loss? In our study of 32 tax-loss harvesting ETF pairs, VEA and EFA correlated 0.9899 over the 261 weeks to October 16, 2026 and were more than 1 point apart in 2.3% of weeks; over the year to that date, VEA returned 4.18 points more than EFA. IRS Publication 550 sets no test for when two ETFs are “substantially identical” under the wash-sale rule: it says to consider “all the facts and circumstances in your particular case,” so no correlation figure settles the question.
Hold VEA and EFA with other funds or stocks? The free portfolio optimizer opens VEA and EFA beside the rest of what you own: the companies you hold twice, what the funds cost a year, and where the next deposit should go. No account.
What only one of them gives you
SHOPShopify Inc0.56%
SPOTSPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY0.36%Where each fund puts its money
VEA and EFA: what people ask
How much do VEA and EFA overlap?
65% by weight, as of September 30, 2026: heavy overlap. 641 companies appear in both funds; they make up 65% of VEA and 98% of EFA.
Which stocks do VEA and EFA both hold?
The largest shared positions are ASML, HSBA, ROP, SHEL and NOVN. Ranked by the smaller of the two weights, which is the part you would own twice.
Is it redundant to hold both VEA and EFA?
Out of every $100 split evenly between them, about $65 (half in each fund) buys identical positions. The rest is exposure only one of the two funds gives you: 3,259 names only in VEA, 14 only in EFA. Half in each behaves like 249 equally weighted stocks, against 248 for VEA alone and 194 for EFA alone. Whether that duplication is a problem depends on the mix you want; this is a description, not advice.
How is ETF overlap calculated here?
For every company held by both funds we take the smaller of its two weights and add them up. The weights come from the full holdings files Vanguard and iShares publish, not a top-10 sample, and companies are matched by their ISIN so share classes stay apart. Sector overlap applies the same rule to the issuers' sector labels; "behaves like N equally weighted stocks" is one over the sum of the squared weights.
Weights come from each issuer's published holdings file and are matched company by company on their ISIN. Cash, futures and currency positions are left out. This page describes what the funds hold; it is not investment advice.