Which returned more over the last year, FDT or VSS?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FDT returned +26.6% and VSS +12.2%.

Which is cheaper, FDT or VSS?

VSS is cheaper, by 0.74 percentage points a year. That is about $74 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FDT and VSS overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FDT and 0% of VSS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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FDT vs VSS: Differences, Returns & Fees

FDT and VSS hold 4% of their weight in the same names, and FDT returned +26.6% over the year. Net assets: $1.4bn on Oct 9, 2026 for First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund, and $11.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp Idx ETF.

VSS costs 0.74 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.4 points.

	FDT	VSS
Expense ratio	0.80%	0.06%
Net assets, FDT as of Oct 9, 2026 and VSS as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.4bn	$11.6bn
Total return, 1 year	+26.6%	+12.2%
What it tracks	not read by ETFIQ	FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index
Holdings in common	4%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	9.6%	8.1%
Below its high	7.0%, high on Jun 1, 2026	4.0%, high on May 11, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+26.6%

FDT total return, 1 year

+12.2%

VSS total return, 1 year

0.80%

FDT expense ratio

0.06%

VSS expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, FDT and VSS hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

50%

half

4% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding FDT VSS

DPM Metals Inc. 0.24% 0.24%

Eldorado Gold Corporation 0.22% 0.27%

Finning International Inc. 0.25% 0.21%

SSR Mining Inc 0.37% 0.20%

thyssenkrupp AG 0.18% 0.20%

B2Gold Corp. 0.35% 0.18%

Saipem SpA 0.58% 0.18%

OceanaGold Corporation 0.36% 0.17%

Aberdeen Group PLC 0.39% 0.15%

ISS A/S 0.24% 0.15%

Balfour Beatty Plc 0.36% 0.14%

Tritax Big Box REIT Plc 0.20% 0.14%

Only in FDT

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. 1.67%

Kingboard Laminates Holdings Limited 1.04%

SK Square Co., Ltd. 0.99%

SK Hynix Inc. 0.92%

Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries S.A. 0.88%

Kingboard Holdings Limited 0.86%

LG Innotek Co., Ltd. 0.86%

SoftBank Group Corp. 0.83%

Only in VSS

SLBBH1142 5.90%

Hudbay Minerals Inc 0.30%

Taiwan Union Technology Corp 0.28%

LandMark Optoelectronics Corp 0.23%

Aritzia Inc 0.23%

Gaztransport Et Technigaz SA 0.23%

Storebrand ASA 0.22%

Kinsus Interconnect Technology Corp 0.21%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

FDT

First Trust Developed Markets ex-US AlphaDEX Fund

VSS

Vanguard FTSE All-Wld ex-US SmCp Idx ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +26.6% +12.2%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 +9.3 pts −5.1 pts

Expense ratio 0.80% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 298 4888

Net assets, FDT as of Oct 9, 2026 and VSS as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.4bn $11.6bn

FDT and VSS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

FDT in plain words

FDT tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +26.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.80% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 298 positions, with the top ten at 9.6%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Jun 1, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

VSS in plain words

VSS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 4,888 positions, with the top ten at 8.1%. It sat 4.0% below its high of May 11, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FDT or VSS?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FDT returned +26.6% and VSS +12.2%.
Which is cheaper, FDT or VSS?: VSS is cheaper, by 0.74 percentage points a year. That is about $74 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FDT and VSS overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FDT and 0% of VSS by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FDT vs SCZ FDT vs SCHC DFIS vs FDT SCHC vs VSS DFIS vs VSS SCZ vs VSS AVDV vs VSS

FDT on its own →VSS on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

FDT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗FDT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for FDT ↗VSS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VSS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VSS ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FDT against VSS, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fdt-vs-vss

Open data

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