Data as of Oct 30, 2026.
FGSI vs FTGS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 30, 2026, FGSI returned +5.4% to FTGS's +5.0%, and FTGS charges 0.60% to FGSI's 0.85%.
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Net assets on Oct 30, 2026: $2.0m for FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF and $1.3bn for First Trust Growth Strength ETF.
Pair scorecard
FTGS costs 0.25 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; FTGS is far larger, $1.3bn against $2.0m.
| Measure | FGSI | FTGS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +5.4% | +5.0% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 3.0% | rose 4.9% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 8.4% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 53% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Aug 13, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: First Trust Growth Strength ETF, measured through FTGS | Growth Strength Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.60% |
| Net assets | $2.0m | $1.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 99% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 94% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 22.1% | |
Risk and return
Jul 3, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 69 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FGSI against FTGS, Jul 3, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026; FTGS against VOO, Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Jul 2025 to Oct 2026, FGSI and FTGS returned about the same: +8.4% and +8.5%. FGSI swung slightly less: 11.4% to 12.4%. FGSI fell less at its worst: −8.1% to −9.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FGSI | FTGS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +8.4% | +8.5% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.3% | +6.3% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −3.0% | +8.3% | FTGS | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.4% | 12.4% | FGSI (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 7.4% | 8.0% | FGSI (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −8.1% | −9.3% | FGSI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 86.8% | 98.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 91.8% | 105.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.91 | 1.05 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.25 | 0.24 | FGSI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.38 | FGSI (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.031 | 0.121 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.78 | 0.68 | FGSI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | FTGS | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | −3.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.12 | −1.06 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.9% to +2.1% | −9.5% to +2.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.10 | −0.42 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.6% | 6.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 69 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FGSI and FTGS hold 99% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 30, 2026.
half
99% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FGSI and FTGS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
Client brief:
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FGSI
Over the year to Oct 30, 2026, FGSI paid 8.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 3.0%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.4%. First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) returned +5.0% over the same days, so a holder was about even. At its price on Oct 30, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 8.4%, paid monthly. First Trust estimates that 53% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
FTGS
FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 30, 2026 it returned +5.0% with distributions reinvested, against +12.4% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 30, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 22.1%. It sat 6.3% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 30, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are FGSI and FTGS in the same category?
- FGSI is an option-income ETF and FTGS is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, FGSI or FTGS?
- In the year to Oct 30, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FGSI returned +5.4% and FTGS +5.0%.
- Which is cheaper, FGSI or FTGS?
- FTGS is cheaper, by 0.25 percentage points a year. That is about $25 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, FGSI against FTGS, data as of Oct 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fgsi-vs-ftgs
ETFIQ. (Oct 30, 2026). FGSI against FTGS. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fgsi-vs-ftgs
[FGSI against FTGS (ETFIQ, Oct 30, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fgsi-vs-ftgs)
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