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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FESM returned +23.0% and SMLF +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, FESM or SMLF?

SMLF is cheaper, by 0.13 percentage points a year. That is about $13 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 1% of FESM and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FESM vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FESM returned +23.0% to SMLF's +14.8%; 18% 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 $4.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF.

FESM on its own →SMLF on its own →

At a glance

+23.0%

FESM total return, 1 year

+14.8%

SMLF total return, 1 year

0.28%

FESM expense ratio

0.15%

SMLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SMLF costs 0.13 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.2 points; FESM is 1.6 times larger.

FESM vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FESM	SMLF
Return
Measure	FESM	SMLF
Total return, 1 year	+23.0%	+14.8%
Drawdown
Measure	FESM	SMLF
Below its high	5.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026	5.2%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FESM	SMLF
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index
Cost and size
Measure	FESM	SMLF
Expense ratio	0.28%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$6.4bn	$4.0bn
Holdings
Measure	FESM	SMLF
Holdings in common	18%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	8.0%	6.4%

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

What they share

18%

By the books each fund has filed, FESM and SMLF hold 18% 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

18% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FESM SMLF

GUARDANT HEALTH INC 1.09% 0.55%

AXSOME THERAPEUTICS INC 0.63% 0.29%

SEMTECH CORP 0.30% 0.28%

BRIDGEBIO PHARMA INC 0.27% 0.33%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP 0.26% 0.27%

STERLING INFRASTRUCTURE INC 0.26% 0.28%

ABERCROMBIE and FITCH CO 0.56% 0.25%

CARPENTER TECHNOLOGY CORP 0.44% 0.24%

CLEAR SECURE INC 0.59% 0.24%

WORKIVA INC 0.27% 0.23%

HCI GROUP INC 0.42% 0.23%

OSCAR HEALTH INC 0.33% 0.22%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FESM

ACM RESEARCH INC 0.90%

PLEXUS CORP 0.72%

PHILLIPS EDISON and CO INC 0.64%

GLACIER BANCORP INC 0.61%

WESBANCO INC 0.60%

BENCHMARK ELECTRONICS INC 0.58%

EASTERN BANKSHARES INC 0.57%

KENNAMETAL INC 0.52%

Only in SMLF

EVERPURE INC CLASS A 0.72%

NVENT ELECTRIC PLC 0.72%

JABIL 0.69%

WILLIAMS SONOMA INC 0.68%

RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM 0.61%

FLEX LTD 0.58%

MEDPACE HOLDINGS 0.53%

HALOZYME THERAPEUTICS 0.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FESM Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap Core ETF SMLF iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer Fidelity iShares

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +23.0% +14.8%

Expense ratio 0.28% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 1.1% 10.6%

Holdings 779 962

Net assets, FESM as of Sep 30, 2026 and SMLF as of Oct 27, 2026 $6.4bn $4.2bn

FESM and SMLF 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.

SMLF

SMLF tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 11% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 962 positions, with the top ten at 6.4%. It sat 5.2% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FESM or SMLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FESM returned +23.0% and SMLF +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, FESM or SMLF?: SMLF is cheaper, by 0.13 percentage points a year. That is about $13 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FESM and SMLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 1% of FESM and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FESM vs RSSL FESM vs FYX FESM vs FNX FESM vs FYC IJT vs SMLF FNDA vs SMLF SDVY vs SMLF SMLF vs SPSM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FESM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FESM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Fidelity website ↗

SMLF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SMLF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SMLF ↗

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 SMLF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fesm-vs-smlf

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