COWG vs FSMD: Differences, Returns & Fees
COWG and FSMD hold 8% of their weight in the same names, and FSMD returned +15.8% over the year. Net assets: $2.4bn on Oct 2, 2026 for Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF, and $2.5bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Fidelity Small-Mid Multifactor ETF.
FSMD costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.6 points; FSMD is 1.1 times larger.
| COWG | FSMD | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Jul 31, 2026 | $2.2bn | $2.5bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +12.2% | +15.8% |
| What it tracks | Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index | Fidelity Small-Mid Multifactor Index |
| Holdings in common | 8% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 28.4% | 8.2% |
| Below its high | 3.5%, high on Oct 9, 2026 | 6.2%, high on Aug 17, 2026 |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.
COWG and FSMD are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. COWG follows Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index and FSMD follows Fidelity Small-Mid Multifactor Index.
- Holdings in common. 8% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 20, 2026 COWG returned +12.2% and FSMD +15.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.6 points.
Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.
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What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, COWG and FSMD hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026.
half
8% in common
On the same fields
COWG and FSMD on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About COWG
COWG tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.49% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 65% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 100 positions, with the top ten at 28.4%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Oct 9, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +15.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.
About FSMD
FSMD tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +15.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 15% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 586 positions, with the top ten at 8.2%. It sat 6.2% below its high of Aug 17, 2026 on Oct 20, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, COWG or FSMD?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, COWG returned +12.2% and FSMD +15.8%.
- Which is cheaper, COWG or FSMD?
- FSMD is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, COWG against FSMD, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-fsmd
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). COWG against FSMD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-fsmd
[COWG against FSMD (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-fsmd)
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