Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
ESML vs VTWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ESML returned +17.7% to VTWO's +14.3%; 35% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $2.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF, and $16.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VTWO costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.4 points; VTWO is 6.1 times larger.
| Measure | ESML | VTWO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.7% | +14.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.3%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 7.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Small Cap Extended ESG Focus Index | Russell 2000 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.17% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.7bn | $16.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 35% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 5.2% | 5.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 20, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026 · 444 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: ESML against PBUS, Apr 20, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026; VTWO against IWM, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
ESML returned more: +126.6% to +99.6%. ESML swung slightly less: 22.8% to 23.8%. ESML and VTWO fell about the same at their worst: −40.6% and −40.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | ESML | VTWO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +126.6% | +99.6% | ESML | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.1% | +8.4% | ESML | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +104.3% | +78.3% | ESML | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.8% | 23.8% | ESML (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 16.0% | 16.6% | ESML (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.6% | −40.2% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.1% | 98.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 104.1% | 99.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.11 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.76 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.41 | 0.34 | ESML | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.59 | 0.49 | ESML | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.085 | 0.108 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.21 | ESML | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | PBUS | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −4.4% a year | +0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.14 | 0.46 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.9% to +3.2% | −0.4% to +0.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.27 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.3% | 1.0% | 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
By the books each fund has filed, ESML and VTWO hold 35% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
35% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
ESML and VTWO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
ESML and VTWO 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 VTWO follows Russell 2000 Index.
- Holdings in common. 35% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ESML returned +17.7% and VTWO +14.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
VTWO
VTWO tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,002 positions, with the top ten at 5.4%. It sat 7.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, ESML or VTWO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ESML returned +17.7% and VTWO +14.3%.
- Which is cheaper, ESML or VTWO?
- VTWO 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, ESML against VTWO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esml-vs-vtwo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). ESML against VTWO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esml-vs-vtwo
[ESML against VTWO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esml-vs-vtwo)
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