Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BOXX vs GARP: Differences, Returns & Fees
BOXX is an actively managed short-term fund and GARP an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GARP returned +18.0% against +4.0%.
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Net assets: $14.5bn on Oct 28, 2026 for Alpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETF, and $3.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Quality GARP ETF.
Pair scorecard
GARP costs 0.04 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.0 points; BOXX is 4.1 times larger.
| Measure | BOXX | GARP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.0% | +18.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.0%, high on Oct 6, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $14.4bn | $3.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 94% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 43.5% | |
Risk and return
Jan 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 198 weekly returnsGARP returned more: +176.2% to +18.9%. BOXX swung less: 0.2% to 19.3%. BOXX fell less at its worst: −0.1% to −22.9%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOXX | GARP | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +18.9% | +176.2% | GARP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.6% | +30.6% | GARP | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +18.6% | +171.3% | GARP | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 0.2% | 19.3% | BOXX | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.2% | 12.2% | BOXX | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −0.1% | −22.9% | BOXX | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.25 | 1.24 | GARP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.35 | 1.98 | GARP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | Not measured | 1.34 | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 198 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
BOXX and GARP on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
BOXX and GARP do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BOXX follows No index, actively managed and GARP follows MSCI USA Quality GARP Select Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BOXX returned +4.0% and GARP +18.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 14.0 points.
- Size. BOXX has $14.4bn in net assets and GARP $3.5bn (net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026); BOXX is 4.1 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BOXX
BOXX is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year.
GARP
GARP tracks the MSCI USA Quality GARP. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 131 positions, with the top ten at 43.5%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, BOXX or GARP?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BOXX returned +4.0% and GARP +18.0%.
- Which is cheaper, BOXX or GARP?
- GARP is cheaper, by 0.04 percentage points a year. That is about $4 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, BOXX against GARP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-garp
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BOXX against GARP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-garp
[BOXX against GARP (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/boxx-vs-garp)
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