Which returned more over the last year, ESML or SDVY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ESML returned +17.7% and SDVY +12.2%.

Which is cheaper, ESML or SDVY?

ESML is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do ESML and SDVY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 12% of ESML and 24% of SDVY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ESML vs SDVY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ESML returned +17.7% to SDVY's +12.2%; 14% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.7bn for iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF and $11.1bn for First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF.

ESML on its own →SDVY on its own →

At a glance

+17.7%

ESML total return, 1 year

+12.2%

SDVY total return, 1 year

0.17%

ESML expense ratio

0.58%

SDVY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

ESML costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.5 points; SDVY is 4.1 times larger.

ESML vs SDVY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ESML	SDVY
Return
Measure	ESML	SDVY
Total return, 1 year	+17.7%	+12.2%
Drawdown
Measure	ESML	SDVY
Below its high	5.3%, high on Aug 14, 2026	6.6%, high on Aug 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ESML	SDVY
What it tracks	MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index	Nasdaq US Small Mid Cap Rising Dividend Achievers Index
Cost and size
Measure	ESML	SDVY
Expense ratio	0.17%	0.58%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$2.7bn	$11.1bn
Holdings
Measure	ESML	SDVY
Holdings in common	14%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	5.2%	10.2%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Apr 20, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026 · 444 weekly returns

ESML SDVY

Return

Total return edge SDVY (slight) +126.6% +132.5%

Annualized edge SDVY (slight) +10.1% +10.4%

Price return edge ESML (slight) +104.3% +101.0%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 22.8% 23.1%

Max drawdown edge Tie −40.6% −40.5%

Downside capture 104.1% 101.6%

Beta 1.11 1.05

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SDVY (slight) 0.41 0.42

Sortino edge SDVY (slight) 0.59 0.61

Treynor 0.085 0.095

Calmar edge SDVY (slight) 0.25 0.26

Against the benchmark

Alpha −4.4% a year −2.5% a year

Alpha t-stat −1.14 −0.60

Information ratio −0.27 −0.15

Tracking error 11.3% 12.4%

Each against its own benchmark: ESML against PBUS, Apr 20, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026; SDVY against IWV, Nov 10, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

SDVY returned slightly more: +132.5% to +126.6%. ESML and SDVY swung about the same: 22.8% and 23.1%. ESML and SDVY fell about the same at their worst: −40.6% and −40.5%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ESML vs SDVY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ESML	SDVY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+126.6%	+132.5%	SDVY (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.1%	+10.4%	SDVY (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+104.3%	+101.0%	ESML (slight)	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.8%	23.1%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.0%	16.2%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−40.6%	−40.5%	Tie	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	97.1%	95.2%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	104.1%	101.6%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.11	1.05	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.76	0.70	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.41	0.42	SDVY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.59	0.61	SDVY (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.085	0.095		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.25	0.26	SDVY (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	PBUS	IWV		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	−4.4% a year	−2.5% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	−1.14	−0.60	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−11.9% to +3.2%	−10.7% to +5.7%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	−0.27	−0.15		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	11.3%	12.4%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 444 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

14%

By the books each fund has filed, ESML and SDVY hold 14% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

14% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ESML SDVY

ASSURANT INC 0.66% 1.00%

ROYAL GOLD 0.36% 0.43%

FIRST BANCORP 0.32% 1.01%

ZURN ELKAY WATER SOLUTIONS CORP 0.32% 0.43%

EAST WEST BANCORP 0.31% 0.97%

REINSURANCE GROUP OF AMERICA 0.31% 1.06%

TD SYNNEX 0.30% 0.57%

ITT INC 0.29% 0.42%

WATTS WATER TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 0.29% 0.98%

WOODWARD 0.29% 0.76%

ZIONS BANCORPORATION 0.27% 0.94%

ACUITY 0.22% 0.86%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ESML

MODERNA 1.13%

US FOODS HOLDING 0.58%

OVINTIV 0.51%

ONE GAS 0.40%

REVVITY 0.39%

DYNATRACE INC 0.38%

GUARDANT HEALTH 0.38%

EQUITABLE HOLDINGS 0.36%

Only in SDVY

National HealthCare Corporation 1.06%

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. 1.06%

Interparfums, Inc. 1.02%

OFG Bancorp 1.00%

VeriSign, Inc. 1.00%

Expedia Group, Inc. 0.96%

NetApp, Inc. 0.96%

Cincinnati Financial Corporation 0.95%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ESML iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF SDVY First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares First Trust

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +17.7% +12.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (PBUS) +13.3% (IWV)

Gap to its benchmark +4.4 pts vs PBUS −1.1 pts vs IWV

Expense ratio 0.17% 0.58%

Already in the S&P 500 12.3% 23.5%

Holdings 903 172

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $2.7bn $11.1bn

ESML and SDVY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-8B935AA53E

ESML and SDVY are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. ESML follows MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index and SDVY follows Nasdaq US Small Mid Cap Rising Dividend Achievers Index.
Holdings in common. 14% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ESML returned +17.7% and SDVY +12.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.5 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

ESML

ESML tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.17% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 12% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 903 positions, with the top ten at 5.2%. It sat 5.3% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

SDVY

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

SDVY tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.58% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 24% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 172 positions, with the top ten at 10.2%. It sat 6.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, ESML or SDVY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ESML returned +17.7% and SDVY +12.2%.
Which is cheaper, ESML or SDVY?: ESML is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ESML and SDVY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 12% of ESML and 24% of SDVY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

ESML vs IJT ESML vs FESM ESML vs SCHA ESML vs PSC SDVY vs VIOO SDVY vs SMLF SDVY vs SLYG NUSC vs SDVY

Where to next

ESML on its own →SDVY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →ESML dividend history →ESML holdings →SDVY dividend history →SDVY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

ESML filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ESML prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ESML ↗

SDVY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDVY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for SDVY ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, ESML against SDVY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esml-vs-sdvy

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