Which returned more over the last year, FXL or IYW?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and IYW +23.2%.

Which is cheaper, FXL or IYW?

IYW is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FXL and IYW overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 94% of IYW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FXL vs IYW: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FXL returned +29.0% to IYW's +23.2%; 31% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $2.8bn for First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund and $25.0bn for iShares U.S. Technology ETF.

FXL on its own →IYW on its own →

At a glance

+29.0%

FXL total return, 1 year

+23.2%

IYW total return, 1 year

0.60%

FXL expense ratio

0.37%

IYW expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IYW costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.8 points; IYW is 8.9 times larger.

FXL vs IYW: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	IYW
Return
Measure	FXL	IYW
Total return, 1 year	+29.0%	+23.2%
Drawdown
Measure	FXL	IYW
Below its high		5.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FXL	IYW
What it tracks	StrataQuant Technology Index	Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22
Cost and size
Measure	FXL	IYW
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.37%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$2.8bn	$25.0bn
Holdings
Measure	FXL	IYW
Holdings in common	31%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	17.0%	65.1%

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

Risk and return

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

FXL IYW

Return

Total return edge IYW +1,055.5% +1,855.4%

Annualized edge IYW +13.4% +16.5%

Price return edge IYW +995.5% +1,616.8%

Risk

Volatility edge IYW (slight) 23.7% 22.1%

Max drawdown edge IYW −60.5% −52.3%

Downside capture 111.5% 107.5%

Beta 1.13 1.08

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IYW 0.58 0.73

Sortino edge IYW 0.85 1.09

Treynor 0.122 0.150

Calmar edge IYW 0.22 0.31

Against the benchmark

Alpha +2.4% a year +5.3% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.91 2.32

Information ratio 0.32 0.60

Tracking error 11.8% 10.1%

Reading

IYW returned more: +1,855.4% to +1,055.5%. IYW swung slightly less: 22.1% to 23.7%. IYW fell less at its worst: −52.3% to −60.5%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FXL vs IYW: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	IYW	IWB	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+1,055.5%	+1,855.4%		IYW	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.4%	+16.5%		IYW	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+995.5%	+1,616.8%		IYW	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.7%	22.1%		IYW (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.4%	14.9%		IYW (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−60.5%	−52.3%		IYW	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	137.3%	135.0%	100.0%	Tie	Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	111.5%	107.5%	100.0%	IYW (slight)	Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.13	1.08	1.00	IYW lower	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.76	0.80	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.58	0.73		IYW	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.85	1.09		IYW	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.122	0.150	0.101	IYW	Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.22	0.31		IYW	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWB	IWB	IWB		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+2.4% a year	+5.3% a year	0.0%	IYW significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.91	2.32		Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.8% to +7.5%	+0.8% to +9.7%		FXL's includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.32	0.60		IYW	Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	11.8%	10.1%	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, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

31%

By the books each fund has filed, FXL and IYW hold 31% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

31% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FXL IYW

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. 1.50% 1.60%

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1.36% 3.04%

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (Class A) 1.51% 1.33%

Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 1.26% 2.18%

Apple Inc. 1.24% 16.60%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.14% 16.81%

Marvell Technology, Inc. 1.10% 1.05%

Micron Technology, Inc. 1.04% 2.73%

Analog Devices, Inc. 1.28% 1.03%

Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A) 1.02% 3.02%

Texas Instruments Incorporated 0.98% 1.39%

Amphenol Corporation 1.10% 0.95%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FXL

Only in IYW

INTEL CORPORATION 2.12%

ALPHABET CLASS C 1.92%

ORACLE 1.11%

CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS 0.47%

SYNOPSYS 0.44%

APPLOVIN CLASS A 0.31%

AUTODESK 0.25%

STRATEGY INC CLASS A 0.25%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FXL First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund IYW iShares U.S. Technology ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index of U.S. Technology

Total return, 1 year +29.0% +23.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.1% (IWB) +13.1% (IWB)

Gap to its benchmark +15.9 pts vs IWB +10.1 pts vs IWB

Expense ratio 0.60% 0.37%

Already in the S&P 500 50.0% 94.3%

Holdings 110 150

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $2.8bn $25.0bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-30B0C2087F

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

What each follows. FXL follows StrataQuant Technology Index and IYW follows Russell 1000 Technology RIC 22.
Holdings in common. 31% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FXL returned +29.0% and IYW +23.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FXL

FXL tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 50% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 110 positions, with the top ten at 17.0%.

IYW

IYW tracks an index of U.S. Technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +23.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.37% 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 150 positions, with the top ten at 65.1%. It sat 5.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FXL or IYW?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and IYW +23.2%.
Which is cheaper, FXL or IYW?: IYW is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FXL and IYW overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 94% of IYW by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FXL vs IXN FXL vs XLK FXL vs VGT FXL vs XNTK IYW vs XNTK IYW vs TDIV IYW vs QTEC IYW vs RSPT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FXL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FXL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FXL ↗

IYW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IYW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IYW ↗

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, FXL against IYW, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-iyw

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