Which returned more over the last year, FNX or IJR?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FNX returned +12.4% and IJR +17.5%.

Which is cheaper, FNX or IJR?

IJR is cheaper, by 0.56 percentage points a year. That is about $56 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FNX and IJR overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 8% of FNX and 0% of IJR by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FNX vs IJR: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FNX returned +12.4% to IJR's +17.5%; 24% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.4bn for First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund and $104.6bn for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF.

FNX on its own →IJR on its own →

At a glance

+12.4%

FNX total return, 1 year

+17.5%

IJR total return, 1 year

0.62%

FNX expense ratio

0.06%

IJR expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IJR costs 0.56 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.1 points; IJR is far larger, $104.6bn against $1.4bn.

FNX vs IJR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FNX	IJR
Return
Measure	FNX	IJR
Total return, 1 year	+12.4%	+17.5%
Drawdown
Measure	FNX	IJR
Below its high	4.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026	6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FNX	IJR
What it tracks	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index	S&P SmallCap 600
Cost and size
Measure	FNX	IJR
Expense ratio	0.62%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.4bn	$104.6bn
Holdings
Measure	FNX	IJR
Holdings in common	24%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	4.4%	5.3%

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

Risk and return

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

FNX IJR

Return

Total return edge FNX (slight) +455.7% +411.4%

Annualized edge FNX (slight) +9.2% +8.7%

Price return edge FNX +360.2% +290.8%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 22.8% 23.0%

Max drawdown edge Tie −57.0% −57.3%

Downside capture 107.9% 98.9%

Beta 1.15 0.99

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FNX (slight) 0.43 0.41

Sortino edge FNX (slight) 0.61 0.60

Treynor 0.086 0.097

Calmar edge FNX (slight) 0.16 0.15

Against the benchmark

Alpha −1.5% a year +0.6% a year

Alpha t-stat −0.77 0.91

Information ratio −0.01 0.20

Tracking error 9.1% 2.4%

Each against its own benchmark: FNX against IWV, May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; IJR against SPSM, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

FNX returned slightly more: +455.7% to +411.4%. FNX and IJR swung about the same: 22.8% and 23.0%. FNX and IJR fell about the same at their worst: −57.0% and −57.3%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FNX vs IJR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FNX	IJR	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+455.7%	+411.4%	FNX (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.2%	+8.7%	FNX (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+360.2%	+290.8%	FNX	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.8%	23.0%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.2%	15.9%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−57.0%	−57.3%	Tie	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	115.8%	98.7%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	107.9%	98.9%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.15	0.99	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.85	0.99	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.43	0.41	FNX (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.61	0.60	FNX (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.086	0.097		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.16	0.15	FNX (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWV	SPSM		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	−1.5% a year	+0.6% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	−0.77	0.91	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−5.4% to +2.4%	−0.7% to +1.9%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	−0.01	0.20		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	9.1%	2.4%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

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

24%

By the books each fund has filed, FNX and IJR hold 24% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

24% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FNX IJR

SM Energy Company 0.41% 0.53%

EPAM Systems, Inc. 0.44% 0.39%

Glaukos Corporation 0.39% 0.61%

Matson, Inc. 0.38% 0.39%

Victoria's Secret & Co. 0.37% 0.42%

Lyft, Inc. (Class A) 0.40% 0.36%

Mohawk Industries, Inc. 0.36% 0.36%

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. 0.36% 0.52%

TG Therapeutics, Inc. 0.36% 0.46%

RingCentral, Inc. (Class A) 0.41% 0.36%

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation (Class A) 0.40% 0.36%

Box, Inc. (Class A) 0.36% 0.34%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FNX

Range Resources Corporation 0.54%

Antero Resources Corporation 0.45%

APA Corporation 0.44%

CNX Resources Corporation 0.44%

Genpact Limited 0.43%

Qualys, Inc. 0.43%

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. 0.42%

Hinge Health, Inc. (Class A) 0.42%

Only in IJR

CONAGRA BRANDS 0.39%

MOLSON COORS BREWING CLASS B 0.36%

CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT INC 0.34%

TELEFLEX 0.34%

CASELLA WASTE SYSTEMS CLASS A 0.33%

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES REALTY TRUST 0.33%

NOBLE CORPORATION PLC 0.33%

MARKETAXESS HOLDINGS 0.33%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FNX First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund IJR iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks the S&P SmallCap 600

Total return, 1 year +12.4% +17.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) +17.6% (SPSM)

Gap to its benchmark −0.9 pts vs IWV −0.1 pts vs SPSM

Expense ratio 0.62% 0.06%

Already in the S&P 500 8.2% 0.0%

Holdings 451 642

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.4bn $104.6bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-A1CE5B9B19

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

What each follows. FNX follows Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index and IJR follows S&P SmallCap 600.
Holdings in common. 24% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FNX returned +12.4% and IJR +17.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.1 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FNX

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

FNX tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.62% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 8% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 451 positions, with the top ten at 4.4%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

IJR

IJR tracks the S&P SmallCap 600. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.6% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% 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 642 positions, with the top ten at 5.3%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FNX or IJR?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FNX returned +12.4% and IJR +17.5%.
Which is cheaper, FNX or IJR?: IJR is cheaper, by 0.56 percentage points a year. That is about $56 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FNX and IJR overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 8% of FNX and 0% of IJR by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FNX vs VB FNX vs IWM FNX vs SCHA FNX vs VTWO IJR vs IWC IJR vs VIOG IJR vs SCHA IJR vs IWM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FNX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FNX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FNX ↗

IJR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IJR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IJR ↗

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, FNX against IJR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fnx-vs-ijr

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