Which returned more over the last year, FDL or FEX?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FDL returned +26.0% and FEX +18.2%.

Which is cheaper, FDL or FEX?

FDL is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FDL and FEX overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 93% of FDL and 86% of FEX by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FDL vs FEX: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FDL returned +26.0% to FEX's +18.2%; 12% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $8.2bn for First Trust Morningstar ETF and $1.6bn for First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund.

FDL on its own →FEX on its own →

At a glance

+26.0%

FDL total return, 1 year

+18.2%

FEX total return, 1 year

0.43%

FDL expense ratio

0.57%

FEX expense ratio

Pair scorecard

FDL costs 0.14 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.8 points; FDL is 5.1 times larger.

FDL vs FEX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FDL	FEX
Return
Measure	FDL	FEX
Total return, 1 year	+26.0%	+18.2%
Benchmark
Measure	FDL	FEX
What it tracks	Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Large Cap Core Index
Cost and size
Measure	FDL	FEX
Expense ratio	0.43%	0.57%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$8.2bn	$1.6bn
Holdings
Measure	FDL	FEX
Holdings in common	12%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	50.6%	5.1%

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

Risk and return

May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,014 weekly returns

FDL FEX

Return

Total return edge FEX +366.6% +480.9%

Annualized edge FEX +8.2% +9.4%

Price return edge FEX +111.9% +352.4%

Risk

Volatility edge FDL (slight) 18.9% 19.9%

Max drawdown edge FEX −65.7% −58.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FEX (slight) 0.43 0.48

Sortino edge FEX (slight) 0.61 0.68

Calmar edge FEX 0.13 0.16

Reading

FEX returned more: +480.9% to +366.6%. FDL swung slightly less: 18.9% to 19.9%. FEX fell less at its worst: −58.8% to −65.7%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FDL vs FEX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FDL	FEX	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+366.6%	+480.9%	FEX	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+8.2%	+9.4%	FEX	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+111.9%	+352.4%	FEX	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	18.9%	19.9%	FDL (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.3%	14.0%	FDL (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−65.7%	−58.8%	FEX	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.43	0.48	FEX (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.61	0.68	FEX (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.13	0.16	FEX	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

12%

By the books each fund has filed, FDL and FEX hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

12% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FDL FEX

Chevron Corporation 9.28% 0.48%

Amcor plc 0.78% 0.47%

Edison International 0.85% 0.46%

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. 0.49% 0.46%

Accenture plc 3.20% 0.44%

Comcast Corporation (Class A) 2.46% 0.43%

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 0.67% 0.42%

Verizon Communications Inc. 6.58% 0.41%

Consolidated Edison, Inc. 0.90% 0.38%

Exelon Corporation 1.12% 0.38%

ONEOK, Inc. 1.72% 0.38%

Evergy, Inc. 0.42% 0.37%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FDL

Altria Group, Inc. 4.82%

Duke Energy Corporation 2.24%

Blackstone Inc. 2.11%

Dominion Energy, Inc. 1.42%

The Kraft Heinz Company 0.86%

General Mills, Inc. 0.73%

Omnicom Group Inc. 0.53%

Tyson Foods, Inc. (Class A) 0.39%

Only in FEX

PTC Inc. 0.59%

Roper Technologies, Inc. 0.53%

Ovintiv Inc. 0.52%

Permian Resources Corp. 0.51%

ConocoPhillips 0.50%

EOG Resources, Inc. 0.50%

Cincinnati Financial Corporation 0.49%

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation 0.49%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FDL First Trust Morningstar ETF FEX First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust First Trust

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +26.0% +18.2%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.7% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +4.5 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.43% 0.57%

Already in the S&P 500 93.3% 85.6%

Holdings 100 375

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $8.2bn $1.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-E076F64E37

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

What each follows. FDL follows Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index and FEX follows Nasdaq AlphaDEX Large Cap Core Index.
Holdings in common. 12% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FDL returned +26.0% and FEX +18.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FDL

FDL tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +26.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.43% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 100 positions, with the top ten at 50.6%.

FEX

FEX tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.57% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 375 positions, with the top ten at 5.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FDL or FEX?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FDL returned +26.0% and FEX +18.2%.
Which is cheaper, FDL or FEX?: FDL is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FDL and FEX overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 93% of FDL and 86% of FEX by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FDL vs IMCV FDL vs IVOV FDL vs VFMF FDL vs FXO FEX vs RSPA FEX vs IVOV FEX vs PEY FEX vs VFMF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FDL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FDL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FDL ↗

FEX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FEX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FEX ↗

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, FDL against FEX, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fdl-vs-fex

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.