Which is cheaper, IJR or SMAY?

IJR charges 0.06% a year and SMAY charges 0.90%, so IJR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are IJR and SMAY the same kind of fund?

No. IJR is an index ETF and SMAY is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

IJR vs SMAY: how they differ

IJR and SMAY are measured over different days, and IJR charges 0.06% against 0.90%.

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF and FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - May.

IJR and SMAY on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF	SMAY FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - May
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	iShares	First Trust
What it is	S&P SmallCap 600	Defined outcome, 15% on IWM
Total return, 1 year	+19.9%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	+2.4 pts	not available
Expense ratio	0.06%	0.90%
Holdings	603	not filed

IJR in plain words

IJR is an index equity fund tracking the S&P SmallCap 600. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +19.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 603 positions, with the top ten at 6.0%. It sat 5.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

SMAY in plain words

From its price on Sep 12, 2026, the fund can gain about 13.8% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 4.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, IWM can fall 3.9% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's IWM level. 252 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On May 21, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, IJR or SMAY?: IJR charges 0.06% a year and SMAY charges 0.90%, so IJR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are IJR and SMAY the same kind of fund?: No. IJR is an index ETF and SMAY is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

IJR against SMAY, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, IJR against SMAY, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IJR-SMAY Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources