Which returned more over the last year, FESM or FYC?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FESM returned +23.0% and FYC +21.7%.

Which is cheaper, FESM or FYC?

FESM is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FESM and FYC overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 1% of FESM and 0% of FYC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FESM vs FYC: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FESM returned +23.0% to FYC's +21.7%; 14% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $6.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap Core ETF, and $1.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund.

FESM on its own →FYC on its own →

At a glance

+23.0%

FESM total return, 1 year

+21.7%

FYC total return, 1 year

0.28%

FESM expense ratio

0.70%

FYC expense ratio

Pair scorecard

FESM costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.3 points.

FESM vs FYC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FESM	FYC
Return
Measure	FESM	FYC
Total return, 1 year	+23.0%	+21.7%
Drawdown
Measure	FESM	FYC
Below its high	5.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026	8.6%, high on Jun 30, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FESM	FYC
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	FESM	FYC
Expense ratio	0.28%	0.70%
Net assets, FESM as of Sep 30, 2026 and FYC as of Oct 27, 2026	$6.4bn	$1.3bn
Holdings
Measure	FESM	FYC
Holdings in common	14%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	8.0%	7.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

14%

By the books each fund has filed, FESM and FYC hold 14% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

14% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FESM FYC

TENABLE HOLDINGS INC 0.76% 0.68%

ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC 0.47% 0.67%

BENCHMARK ELECTRONICS INC 0.58% 0.43%

EZCORP INC 0.43% 0.50%

HCI GROUP INC 0.42% 0.58%

SKYWARD SPECIALTY INSURANCE GROUP INC 0.40% 0.56%

WISDOMTREE INC 0.40% 0.55%

BGC GROUP INC 0.37% 0.63%

BANDWIDTH INC 0.37% 0.51%

DELEK US HOLDINGS INC 0.32% 0.62%

FASTLY INC 0.29% 0.54%

EXCELERATE ENERGY INC 0.28% 0.39%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FESM

GUARDANT HEALTH INC 1.09%

MAXLINEAR INC 0.96%

ACM RESEARCH INC 0.90%

KULICKE and SOFFA INDUSTRIES INC 0.78%

ENERSYS 0.77%

PLEXUS CORP 0.72%

KODIAK GAS SERVICES INC 0.71%

HEALTHEQUITY INC 0.65%

Only in FYC

Amplitude, Inc. (Class A) 0.79%

Fortrea Holdings Inc. 0.78%

Netskope, Inc. (Class A) 0.76%

First Advantage Corporation 0.75%

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust 0.72%

RXO, Inc. 0.72%

Septerna, Inc. 0.72%

agilon health, inc. 0.72%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FESM Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap Core ETF FYC First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Fidelity First Trust

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +23.0% +21.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.3% (IWV)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +8.4 pts vs IWV

Expense ratio 0.28% 0.70%

Already in the S&P 500 1.1% 0.0%

Holdings 779 264

Net assets, FESM as of Sep 30, 2026 and FYC as of Oct 27, 2026 $6.4bn $1.3bn

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

Alert

About each fund

FESM

FESM is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +23.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.28% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 1% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 779 positions, with the top ten at 8.0%. It sat 5.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

FYC

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

FYC tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.70% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 264 positions, with the top ten at 7.7%. It sat 8.6% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FESM or FYC?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FESM returned +23.0% and FYC +21.7%.
Which is cheaper, FESM or FYC?: FESM is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FESM and FYC overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 1% of FESM and 0% of FYC by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FESM vs FNX FESM vs NUSC FESM vs IWC FESM vs GSSC FYC vs IJT FYC vs SLYG FNDA vs FYC FYC vs SMLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FESM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FESM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Fidelity website ↗

FYC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FYC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FYC ↗

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, FESM against FYC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fesm-vs-fyc

Open data →

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