MSCI EAFE

The MSCI EAFE index includes stocks of around 700 companies from these countries: These are the same countries and regions as for MSCI World except without the U.S. and Canada. Africa and South America are not represented. Greece was part of this index from May 2001, when MSCI upgraded Greece from emerging market to developed market, to November 2013 when MSCI downgraded Greece from developed to emerging market. Israel joined this index in May 2010 when MSCI upgraded Israel from emerging market to developed market. ==Investing==

Many managers of North American international stock funds use the EAFE as a performance benchmark. For example, Thrift Savings Plan's international fund (I Fund) tracks the net version of this index. The iShares MSCI EAFE Index fund is based on the standard index. EFA is the fourth-largest ETF in the world. They also have iShares MSCI EAFE Small-Cap which has just the small caps. iShares Core MSCI EAFE fund uses the "IMI" version of the index. This fund is similar to EFA but its portfolio represents nearly all of each country's investable market capitalization, while EFA only covers the top 85%, which excludes most small-cap stocks. The TIAA International Equity Index Fund is also based on the EAFE index. Vanguard has the mutual fund Vanguard Developed Markets Index Inv and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF; these funds previously used the MSCI EAFE, but now use the FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index, which is very similar but includes South Korea and Canada, and includes exposure to small-cap stocks. ==See also==