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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FNX returned +12.4% and SMLF +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, FNX or SMLF?

SMLF is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 8% of FNX and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FNX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FNX returned +12.4% to SMLF's +14.8%; 33% 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 $4.2bn for iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF.

FNX on its own →SMLF on its own →

At a glance

+12.4%

FNX total return, 1 year

+14.8%

SMLF total return, 1 year

0.62%

FNX expense ratio

0.15%

SMLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SMLF costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.4 points; SMLF is 3.0 times larger.

FNX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FNX	SMLF
Return
Measure	FNX	SMLF
Total return, 1 year	+12.4%	+14.8%
Drawdown
Measure	FNX	SMLF
Below its high	4.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026	5.2%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FNX	SMLF
What it tracks	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index	STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index
Cost and size
Measure	FNX	SMLF
Expense ratio	0.62%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.4bn	$4.2bn
Holdings
Measure	FNX	SMLF
Holdings in common	33%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	4.4%	6.4%

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

Risk and return

May 8, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026 · 598 weekly returns

FNX SMLF

Return

Total return edge SMLF +187.0% +225.7%

Annualized edge SMLF +9.6% +10.8%

Price return edge SMLF +153.0% +183.9%

Risk

Volatility edge SMLF (slight) 21.4% 21.0%

Max drawdown edge SMLF (slight) −41.9% −40.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SMLF 0.43 0.49

Sortino edge SMLF 0.62 0.70

Calmar edge SMLF 0.23 0.27

Reading

SMLF returned more: +225.7% to +187.0%. SMLF swung slightly less: 21.0% to 21.4%. SMLF fell slightly less at its worst: −40.4% to −41.9%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FNX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FNX	SMLF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+187.0%	+225.7%	SMLF	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.6%	+10.8%	SMLF	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+153.0%	+183.9%	SMLF	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	21.4%	21.0%	SMLF (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.9%	14.6%	Tie	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−41.9%	−40.4%	SMLF (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.43	0.49	SMLF	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.62	0.70	SMLF	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.23	0.27	SMLF	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 598 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

33%

By the books each fund has filed, FNX and SMLF hold 33% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

33% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FNX SMLF

APA Corporation 0.44% 0.44%

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. 0.42% 0.51%

Rubrik, Inc. (Class A) 0.42% 0.43%

Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. 0.39% 0.34%

Weatherford International Plc 0.33% 0.33%

Exelixis, Inc. 0.32% 0.40%

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. 0.31% 0.43%

Wayfair Inc. (Class A) 0.31% 0.30%

Range Resources Corporation 0.54% 0.29%

GitLab Inc. (Class A) 0.34% 0.28%

The Gap, Inc. 0.34% 0.27%

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. 0.27% 0.29%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FNX

EPAM Systems, Inc. 0.44%

Concentra Group Holdings Parent, Inc. 0.41%

Essent Group Ltd. 0.41%

Matador Resources Company 0.41%

PACS Group, Inc. 0.41%

Enact Holdings, Inc. 0.40%

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation (Class A) 0.40%

Dropbox, Inc. (Class A) 0.39%

Only in SMLF

EMCOR GROUP 0.81%

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%

GUARDANT HEALTH 0.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FNX First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund SMLF iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +12.4% +14.8%

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

Gap to its benchmark −0.9 pts vs IWV not measured

Expense ratio 0.62% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 8.2% 10.6%

Holdings 451 962

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.4bn $4.2bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-EFF73918C7

FNX and SMLF 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 SMLF follows STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index.
Holdings in common. 33% 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 SMLF +14.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.4 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.

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, FNX or SMLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FNX returned +12.4% and SMLF +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, FNX or SMLF?: SMLF is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FNX and SMLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 8% of FNX and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FNX vs RSSL FNX vs FYC FNX vs NUSC FNX vs IWC FYX vs SMLF FYC vs SMLF NUSC vs SMLF IWC vs SMLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FNX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FNX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FNX ↗

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

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