XEQT vs VEQT vs ZEQT: The 100% Equity Showdown

If you are a younger investor with a long time horizon (15+ years), holding bonds might feel like a drag on your portfolio's growth. The solution? A 100% Equity ETF. One ticker symbol buys you thousands of stocks across the globe with exactly zero bonds.

The undisputed heavyweight champions in this arena are XEQT (iShares), VEQT (Vanguard), and ZEQT (BMO). Let's break down exactly how they differ.

1. The Fee War: A Race to the Bottom

Just like their 80/20 siblings, the 100% equity ETFs are locked in a massive fee war right now. Here is exactly what is happening under the hood:

ZEQT: Effective June 6, 2025, BMO cut the management fee on ZEQT from 0.18% to 0.15%. BMO's published MER for ZEQT is 0.18%.

VEQT: Vanguard slashed their management fee to 0.17% effective November 18, 2025. The officially reported MER (0.22%) lags behind reality until the next fiscal year-end report.

XEQT: iShares continues to hold strong with a highly competitive 0.19% MER and a 0.17% management fee.

The takeaway? They are all insanely cheap. A 0.03% difference equals just $30 a year on a $100,000 portfolio.

2. Distribution Yields

On a trailing 12-month basis (October 2026), XEQT has the highest distribution yield of the three at 1.56%, ahead of ZEQT (1.26%) and VEQT (1.25%).

3. The Major Difference: The Home Bias

Just like their 80/20 siblings (XGRO and VGRO), the defining difference between these funds is how much love they give to the Canadian market. Vanguard's VEQT targets a 30% "home bias" to Canadian stocks, arguing that it lowers currency volatility for Canadian investors.

iShares (XEQT) and BMO (ZEQT) cap their Canadian exposure at 25%, allowing them to allocate slightly more weight to the US market (which is heavily tilted toward global tech giants).

4. Annual vs Quarterly Payouts

VEQT pays its distributions only once a year (usually in early January). For investors holding VEQT in a non-registered (taxable) account, this is highly preferred because it means you only have to calculate your Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) once a year.

XEQT and ZEQT pay out quarterly. If you love seeing cash hit your account every three months so you can reinvest it faster, XEQT/ZEQT will feel more rewarding.

5. Historical Performance (The 5-Year Snapshot)

While past performance does not guarantee future results, looking at a 5-year historical snapshot proves just how closely these funds track the global market. According to recent data from Morningstar (5-year growth to October 13, 2026):

• VEQT: +94.97%
• XEQT: +94.50%
• ZEQT: +87.27% (since inception, Jan 2022 — ZEQT launched in January 2022, so no 5-year figure exists yet)

Over half a decade of compounding, the total difference between VEQT and XEQT was a microscopic 0.47%. This proves once again that the most important decision is simply picking a globally diversified index fund and holding it, rather than agonizing over which specific brand to buy.

Pro Tip: You can run these head-to-head comparisons yourself using Morningstar.ca. Just search for an ETF ticker, navigate to the Chart section, and use the "Compare" bar to add competing ETFs!

The Final Verdict

If you want slightly lower fees (0.19%) and slightly higher US Tech exposure, pick XEQT. If you want more Canadian stability and the convenience of annual tax bookkeeping, pick VEQT. In reality, the difference over 25 years will likely be a rounding error. The critical step is to buy them through a zero-commission broker.