Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FYC vs IJR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FYC returned +21.7% to IJR's +17.5%; 16% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about FYC and IJR
Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.3bn for First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund and $104.6bn for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
IJR costs 0.64 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.2 points; IJR is far larger, $104.6bn against $1.3bn.
| Measure | FYC | IJR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +21.7% | +17.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 8.6%, high on Jun 30, 2026 | 6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index | S&P SmallCap 600 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.70% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.3bn | $104.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 16% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 7.7% | 5.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 29, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 808 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FYC against IWV, Apr 29, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026; IJR against SPSM, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
FYC returned more: +452.2% to +357.6%. IJR swung slightly less: 21.1% to 22.1%. IJR fell slightly less at its worst: −43.6% to −46.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FYC | IJR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +452.2% | +357.6% | FYC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.6% | +10.3% | FYC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +430.8% | +266.2% | FYC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.1% | 21.1% | IJR (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.2% | 14.4% | IJR (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −46.4% | −43.6% | IJR (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 122.2% | 98.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 112.5% | 98.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.19 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.78 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.53 | 0.49 | FYC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.78 | 0.72 | FYC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.100 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.25 | 0.24 | FYC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWV | SPSM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −2.4% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.92 | 0.91 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −7.6% to +2.7% | −0.7% to +1.9% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.02 | 0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.8% | 2.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 808 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FYC and IJR hold 16% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
16% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FYC and IJR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FYC and IJR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. FYC follows Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index and IJR follows S&P SmallCap 600.
- Holdings in common. 16% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FYC returned +21.7% and IJR +17.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.2 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.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
FYC tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.70% 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 264 positions, with the top ten at 7.7%. It sat 8.6% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
IJR
IJR tracks the S&P SmallCap 600. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.6% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% 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 642 positions, with the top ten at 5.3%. It sat 6.8% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FYC or IJR?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYC returned +21.7% and IJR +17.5%.
- Which is cheaper, FYC or IJR?
- IJR is cheaper, by 0.64 percentage points a year. That is about $64 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, FYC against IJR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyc-vs-ijr
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FYC against IJR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyc-vs-ijr
[FYC against IJR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyc-vs-ijr)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.