Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTGS vs MOAT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTGS returned +5.6% to MOAT's +10.3%; 8% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about FTGS and MOAT
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.3bn for First Trust Growth Strength ETF and $11.6bn for VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF.
Pair scorecard
MOAT costs 0.14 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.7 points; MOAT is 8.9 times larger.
| Measure | FTGS | MOAT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +5.6% | +10.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.1%, high on Aug 13, 2026 | 3.7%, high on Aug 27, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Growth Strength Index | Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.60% | 0.46% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.3bn | $11.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 8% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 21.4% | 26.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 4, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 207 weekly returns · each against VOOFTGS and MOAT returned about the same: +90.1% and +89.5%. FTGS swung slightly less: 16.0% to 16.9%. FTGS and MOAT fell about the same at their worst: −18.7% and −19.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTGS | MOAT | VOO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +90.1% | +89.5% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +17.5% | +17.4% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +87.3% | +80.6% | FTGS (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 16.9% | FTGS (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 10.2% | 10.9% | FTGS (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −18.7% | −19.0% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 98.4% | 91.8% | 100.0% | FTGS (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 105.3% | 100.5% | 100.0% | MOAT (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.05 | 0.99 | 1.00 | MOAT lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.85 | 0.68 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.80 | 0.76 | FTGS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.26 | 1.18 | FTGS (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.131 | 0.155 | MOAT (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.94 | 0.92 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | VOO | VOO | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.3% a year | −2.4% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.06 | −0.49 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −9.5% to +2.9% | −12.0% to +7.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.42 | −0.27 | MOAT | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.2% | 9.6% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 207 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTGS and MOAT hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
8% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTGS and MOAT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FTGS and MOAT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. FTGS follows Growth Strength Index and MOAT follows Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.
- Holdings in common. 8% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTGS returned +5.6% and MOAT +10.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
FTGS
FTGS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +5.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% 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 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 50 positions, with the top ten at 21.4%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
MOAT
MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.46% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 54 positions, with the top ten at 26.5%. It sat 3.7% below its high of Aug 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FTGS or MOAT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTGS returned +5.6% and MOAT +10.3%.
- Which is cheaper, FTGS or MOAT?
- MOAT is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, FTGS against MOAT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-moat
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTGS against MOAT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-moat
[FTGS against MOAT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftgs-vs-moat)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.