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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and VGT +24.7%.

Which is cheaper, FXL or VGT?

VGT is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 87% of VGT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FXL vs VGT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FXL returned +29.0% to VGT's +24.7%; 27% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $2.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund, and $154.5bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Information Tech ETF.

FXL on its own →VGT on its own →

At a glance

+29.0%

FXL total return, 1 year

+24.7%

VGT total return, 1 year

0.60%

FXL expense ratio

0.09%

VGT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGT costs 0.51 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.3 points.

FXL vs VGT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	VGT
Return
Measure	FXL	VGT
Total return, 1 year	+29.0%	+24.7%
Drawdown
Measure	FXL	VGT
Below its high		4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FXL	VGT
What it tracks	StrataQuant Technology Index	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Information Technology 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	FXL	VGT
Expense ratio	0.60%	0.09%
Net assets, FXL as of Oct 27, 2026 and VGT as of Sep 30, 2026	$2.8bn	$154.5bn
Holdings
Measure	FXL	VGT
Holdings in common	27%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	17.0%	63.6%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

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

FXL VGT

Return

Total return edge VGT +1,055.5% +1,910.2%

Annualized edge VGT +13.4% +16.6%

Price return edge VGT +995.5% +1,587.4%

Risk

Volatility edge VGT (slight) 23.7% 21.8%

Max drawdown edge VGT −60.5% −52.4%

Downside capture 111.5% 99.9%

Beta 1.13 1.00

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VGT 0.58 0.74

Sortino edge VGT 0.85 1.10

Treynor 0.122 0.201

Calmar edge VGT 0.22 0.32

Against the benchmark

Alpha +2.4% a year +0.1% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.91 0.80

Information ratio 0.32 0.19

Tracking error 11.8% 0.7%

Each against its own benchmark: FXL against IWB, May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; VGT against FTEC, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

VGT returned more: +1,910.2% to +1,055.5%. VGT swung slightly less: 21.8% to 23.7%. VGT fell less at its worst: −52.4% to −60.5%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FXL vs VGT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FXL	VGT	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+1,055.5%	+1,910.2%	VGT	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.4%	+16.6%	VGT	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+995.5%	+1,587.4%	VGT	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.7%	21.8%	VGT (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.4%	14.8%	VGT (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−60.5%	−52.4%	VGT	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	137.3%	100.0%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	111.5%	99.9%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.13	1.00	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.76	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.58	0.74	VGT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.85	1.10	VGT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.122	0.201		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.22	0.32	VGT	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWB	FTEC		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+2.4% a year	+0.1% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.91	0.80	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.8% to +7.5%	−0.2% to +0.5%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.32	0.19		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	11.8%	0.7%	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

27%

By the books each fund has filed, FXL and VGT hold 27% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

27% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FXL VGT

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1.36% 3.67%

Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A) 1.26% 1.55%

Apple Inc. 1.24% 15.91%

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. 1.50% 1.24%

NVIDIA Corporation 1.14% 17.58%

Micron Technology, Inc. 1.04% 4.45%

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (Class A) 1.51% 1.02%

Texas Instruments Incorporated 0.98% 0.98%

Microsoft Corporation 0.92% 11.16%

Marvell Technology, Inc. 1.10% 0.88%

Amphenol Corporation 1.10% 0.80%

Analog Devices, Inc. 1.28% 0.75%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FXL

NIQ Global Intelligence Plc 1.73%

Mobility Global Inc. 1.58%

KBR, Inc. 1.36%

Leidos Holdings, Inc. 1.36%

People Inc. 1.32%

Amdocs Limited 1.29%

Maplebear Inc. (Instacart) 1.24%

Science Applications International Corporation 1.05%

Only in VGT

Intel Corp 1.98%

Cisco Systems Inc 1.60%

Oracle Corp 0.85%

Arista Networks Inc 0.85%

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC 0.79%

Accenture PLC 0.45%

Cadence Design Systems Inc 0.38%

Synopsys Inc 0.33%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FXL First Trust Technology AlphaDEX Fund VGT Vanguard Information Tech ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index of Information technology

Total return, 1 year +29.0% +24.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.1% (IWB) +25.0% (FTEC)

Gap to its benchmark +15.9 pts vs IWB −0.3 pts vs FTEC

Expense ratio 0.60% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 50.0% 86.8%

Holdings 110 320

Net assets, FXL as of Oct 27, 2026 and VGT as of Sep 30, 2026 $2.8bn $154.5bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BA2E834887

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

What each follows. FXL follows StrataQuant Technology Index and VGT follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Information Technology 25/50.
Holdings in common. 27% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FXL returned +29.0% and VGT +24.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.3 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FXL

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +29.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index.

FXL tracks an 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%.

VGT

VGT tracks an index of Information technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +24.7% with distributions reinvested, against +25.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Information Technology 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 320 positions, with the top ten at 63.6%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FXL or VGT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FXL returned +29.0% and VGT +24.7%.
Which is cheaper, FXL or VGT?: VGT is cheaper, by 0.51 percentage points a year. That is about $51 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FXL and VGT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 50% of FXL and 87% of VGT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FXL vs XLK FXL vs IYW FXL vs IGM FXL vs IXN VGT vs XNTK QTEC vs VGT RSPT vs VGT TRFK vs VGT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FXL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FXL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FXL ↗

VGT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGT ↗

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 VGT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fxl-vs-vgt

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