Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
COWG vs FTGS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, COWG returned +13.3% to FTGS's +5.6%; 15% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.4bn for Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF and $1.3bn for First Trust Growth Strength ETF.
Pair scorecard
COWG costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.7 points; COWG is 1.8 times larger.
| Measure | COWG | FTGS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.3% | +5.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.1%, high on Aug 13, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Pacer US Large Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders Index | Growth Strength Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.49% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $2.4bn | $1.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 15% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 28.4% | 21.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 30, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 199 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: COWG against IWB, Dec 30, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026; FTGS against VOO, Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.
COWG returned more: +108.4% to +86.0%. FTGS swung less: 15.7% to 18.6%. FTGS fell less at its worst: −18.7% to −22.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | COWG | FTGS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +108.4% | +86.0% | COWG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +21.1% | +17.6% | COWG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +104.5% | +83.6% | COWG | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.6% | 15.7% | FTGS | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.2% | 10.1% | FTGS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −22.4% | −18.7% | FTGS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 120.9% | 98.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 113.3% | 105.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.19 | 1.05 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.81 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.88 | 0.82 | COWG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.34 | 1.27 | COWG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.137 | 0.123 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.95 | 0.94 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWB | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −1.9% a year | −3.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.46 | −1.06 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −10.2% to +6.4% | −9.5% to +2.9% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.12 | −0.42 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.5% | 6.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 199 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, COWG and FTGS hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
15% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
COWG and FTGS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
COWG and FTGS 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 FTGS follows Growth Strength Index.
- Holdings in common. 15% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 COWG returned +13.3% and FTGS +5.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.3% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.
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%.
FTGS
FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +5.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% 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 50 positions, with the top ten at 21.4%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, COWG or FTGS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, COWG returned +13.3% and FTGS +5.6%.
- Which is cheaper, COWG or FTGS?
- COWG is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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 FTGS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-ftgs
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). COWG against FTGS. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-ftgs
[COWG against FTGS (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cowg-vs-ftgs)
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