Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FTKI vs IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTKI returned +19.3% to IWM's +14.1%, and IWM charges 0.19% to FTKI's 0.86%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25m for First Trust Small Cap BuyWrite Income ETF and $75.5bn for iShares Russell 2000 ETF.
Pair scorecard
IWM costs 0.67 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.2 points; IWM is far larger, $75.5bn against $25m.
| Measure | FTKI | IWM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.3% | +14.1% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 6.1% | rose 13.0% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 11.7% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 93% of the Sep 30, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: Russell 2000, measured through IWM | Russell 2000 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.86% | 0.19% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25m | $75.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 22% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Mar 7, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 85 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FTKI against IWM, Mar 7, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWM returned more: +36.3% to +20.9%. FTKI swung less: 11.3% to 17.9%. FTKI fell less at its worst: −9.3% to −11.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FTKI | IWM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +20.9% | +36.3% | IWM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +20.9% | IWM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +0.1% | +33.9% | IWM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 11.3% | 17.9% | FTKI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 8.8% | 11.8% | FTKI | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −9.3% | −11.8% | FTKI | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 31.5% | 101.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 47.0% | 100.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.47 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.56 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.73 | 0.93 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.94 | 1.40 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.175 | 0.106 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.32 | 1.76 | IWM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWM | VTWO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.07 | −0.36 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.4% to +12.3% | −0.6% to +0.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.69 | −0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 12.0% | 1.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 85 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FTKI and IWM hold 22% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
22% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FTKI and IWM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
FTKI and IWM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. FTKI is measured against Russell 2000 through IWM and IWM follows Russell 2000 Index.
- Holdings in common. 22% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTKI returned +19.3% and IWM +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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FTKI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTKI paid 12.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price rose 6.1%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +19.3%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 5.2 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.7%, paid monthly. First Trust estimates that 93% of the distribution paid Sep 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
IWM
IWM tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% 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 1,977 positions, with the top ten at 3.3%. It sat 7.6% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are FTKI and IWM in the same category?
- FTKI is an option-income ETF and IWM 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, FTKI or IWM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTKI returned +19.3% and IWM +14.1%.
- Which is cheaper, FTKI or IWM?
- IWM is cheaper, by 0.67 percentage points a year. That is about $67 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, FTKI against IWM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftki-vs-iwm
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FTKI against IWM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftki-vs-iwm
[FTKI against IWM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftki-vs-iwm)
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