Which is cheaper, SMAY or VTWO?

SMAY charges 0.90% a year and VTWO charges 0.07%, so VTWO is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are SMAY and VTWO the same kind of fund?

No. SMAY is a buffer ETF and VTWO is an index 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

SMAY vs VTWO: how they differ

SMAY and VTWO are measured over different days, and VTWO charges 0.07% against 0.90%.

FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - May and Vanguard Russell 2000 Index Fund.

SMAY and VTWO on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	SMAY FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - May	VTWO Vanguard Russell 2000 Index Fund
Where it sits	Buffer ETF	Core index fund
Issuer	First Trust	Vanguard
What it is	Defined outcome, 15% on IWM	Russell 2000
Total return, 1 year	not published	+21.4%
S&P 500 over the same days	not published	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	not available	+3.9 pts
Expense ratio	0.90%	0.07%
Holdings	not filed	1951

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.

VTWO in plain words

VTWO is an index equity fund tracking the Russell 2000. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +21.4% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1951 positions, with the top ten at 7.8%. It sat 5.3% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, SMAY or VTWO?: SMAY charges 0.90% a year and VTWO charges 0.07%, so VTWO is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are SMAY and VTWO the same kind of fund?: No. SMAY is a buffer ETF and VTWO is an index 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.

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

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources