Are FTLS and VOO in the same category?

FTLS is an alternatives ETF and VOO 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, FTLS or VOO?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +8.5% and VOO +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, FTLS or VOO?

VOO is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

FTLS vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, FTLS returned +8.5% to VOO's +14.8%, and VOO charges 0.03% to FTLS's 1.38%.

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Net assets: $2.6bn on Nov 3, 2026 for First Trust Long/Short Equity, and $1.0tn on Oct 31, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

FTLS on its own →VOO on its own →

At a glance

+8.5%

FTLS total return, 1 year

+14.8%

VOO total return, 1 year

1.38%

FTLS expense ratio

0.03%

VOO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOO costs 1.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.3 points.

FTLS vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FTLS	VOO
Return
Measure	FTLS	VOO
Total return, 1 year	+8.5%	+14.8%
Total return, 52 weeks	+7.7%
Against its benchmark
Measure	FTLS	VOO
What it tracks	not published	S&P 500 Index
Treasury bills, 52 weeks	+3.7%
Against cash	4.1 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	FTLS	VOO
Expense ratio	1.38%	0.03%
Net assets, FTLS as of Nov 3, 2026 and VOO as of Oct 31, 2026	$2.6bn	$1.0tn
Holdings
Measure	FTLS	VOO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Holdings dated		Sep 30, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		39.1%
Risk
Measure	FTLS	VOO
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns	+0.83
Beta to the S&P 500	+0.48: about 0.48% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell	fell 0.48%
Down-week capture	44.7%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell	26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

FTLS First Trust Long/Short Equity VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Where it sits Alternatives ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust Vanguard

What it is Long-short equity Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +8.5% +14.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +14.8% (VOO) +14.8% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark −6.3 pts vs VOO 0.0 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 1.38% 0.03%

Holdings not read by ETFIQ 505

Net assets, FTLS as of Nov 3, 2026 and VOO as of Oct 31, 2026 $2.6bn $1.0tn

FTLS and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

FTLS

FTLS is a long-short equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.83 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.48, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.48% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks FTLS fell 0.48% on average, a down-week capture of 44.7%. Over the same 52 weeks FTLS returned +7.7% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 4.1 percentage points ahead of cash.

VOO

VOO tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +14.8% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Are FTLS and VOO in the same category?: FTLS is an alternatives ETF and VOO 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, FTLS or VOO?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTLS returned +8.5% and VOO +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, FTLS or VOO?: VOO is cheaper, by 1.35 percentage points a year. That is about $135 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

FTLS vs IVV FTLS vs SPY FTLS vs QQQ FTLS vs TLT LSEQ vs VOO CLSE vs VOO ORR vs VOO CBLS vs VOO

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →FTLS on its own →VOO on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →FTLS dividend history →VOO dividend history →VOO holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

FTLS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FTLS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FTLS ↗

VOO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VOO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VOO ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

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ETFIQ, FTLS against VOO, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftls-vs-voo

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