Which returned more over the last year, FYC or IWM?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYC returned +21.7% and IWM +14.1%.

Which is cheaper, FYC or IWM?

IWM 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 FYC and IWM overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FYC and 0% of IWM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FYC vs IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FYC returned +21.7% to IWM's +14.1%; 18% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.3bn for First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund and $75.5bn for iShares Russell 2000 ETF.

FYC on its own →IWM on its own →

At a glance

+21.7%

FYC total return, 1 year

+14.1%

IWM total return, 1 year

0.70%

FYC expense ratio

0.19%

IWM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IWM costs 0.51 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.6 points; IWM is far larger, $75.5bn against $1.3bn.

FYC vs IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYC	IWM
Return
Measure	FYC	IWM
Total return, 1 year	+21.7%	+14.1%
Drawdown
Measure	FYC	IWM
Below its high	8.6%, high on Jun 30, 2026	7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FYC	IWM
What it tracks	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index	Russell 2000 Index
Cost and size
Measure	FYC	IWM
Expense ratio	0.70%	0.19%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.3bn	$75.5bn
Holdings
Measure	FYC	IWM
Holdings in common	18%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	7.7%	3.3%

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

Risk and return

Apr 29, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 808 weekly returns

FYC IWM

Return

Total return edge FYC +452.2% +293.8%

Annualized edge FYC +11.6% +9.2%

Price return edge FYC +430.8% +219.2%

Risk

Volatility edge IWM (slight) 22.1% 21.4%

Max drawdown edge IWM −46.4% −40.2%

Downside capture 112.5% 100.5%

Beta 1.19 1.01

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FYC 0.53 0.44

Sortino edge FYC 0.78 0.64

Treynor 0.100 0.106

Calmar edge FYC (slight) 0.25 0.23

Against the benchmark

Alpha −2.4% a year −0.1% a year

Alpha t-stat −0.92 −0.36

Information ratio −0.02 −0.02

Tracking error 10.8% 1.0%

Each against its own benchmark: FYC against IWV, Apr 29, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026; IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

FYC returned more: +452.2% to +293.8%. IWM swung slightly less: 21.4% to 22.1%. IWM fell less at its worst: −40.2% to −46.4%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FYC vs IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYC	IWM	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+452.2%	+293.8%	FYC	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+11.6%	+9.2%	FYC	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+430.8%	+219.2%	FYC	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.1%	21.4%	IWM (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	15.2%	14.8%	IWM (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−46.4%	−40.2%	IWM	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	122.2%	101.0%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	112.5%	100.5%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.19	1.01	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.78	1.00	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.44	FYC	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.78	0.64	FYC	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.100	0.106		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.25	0.23	FYC (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWV	VTWO		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	−0.92	−0.36	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−7.6% to +2.7%	−0.6% to +0.4%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	−0.02	−0.02		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	10.8%	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, 808 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

18%

By the books each fund has filed, FYC and IWM hold 18% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

18% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FYC IWM

GRAIL, Inc. 0.55% 0.21%

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. 0.62% 0.19%

Tenable Holdings, Inc. 0.68% 0.18%

RXO, Inc. 0.72% 0.16%

Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation 0.61% 0.15%

Braze, Inc. (Class A) 0.68% 0.15%

Heartflow, Inc. 0.74% 0.15%

Q2 Holdings, Inc. 0.46% 0.15%

Workiva Inc. 0.47% 0.15%

AZZ Inc. 0.26% 0.14%

BGC Group Inc. (Class A) 0.63% 0.14%

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. 0.54% 0.14%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FYC

Netskope, Inc. (Class A) 0.76%

EZCORP, Inc. 0.50%

Trulieve Cannabis Corp. 0.50%

Uranium Royalty Corp. 0.46%

Hagerty, Inc. (Class A) 0.43%

Freshpet, Inc. 0.42%

Warner Music Group Corp. (Class A) 0.41%

YETI Holdings, Inc. 0.38%

Only in IWM

JFROG 0.37%

GLAUKOS 0.35%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE 0.35%

MOOG INC CLASS A 0.34%

BRIGHTSPRING HEALTH SERVICES INC 0.33%

UMB FINANCIAL 0.33%

SM ENERGY 0.32%

10X GENOMICS CLASS A 0.31%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FYC First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks the Russell 2000

Total return, 1 year +21.7% +14.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) +14.3% (VTWO)

Gap to its benchmark +8.4 pts vs IWV −0.2 pts vs VTWO

Expense ratio 0.70% 0.19%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 0.0%

Holdings 264 1977

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.3bn $75.5bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-2DFB3A92C0

FYC and IWM 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 IWM follows Russell 2000 Index.
Holdings in common. 18% 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 IWM +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.6 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FYC

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.

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

Which returned more over the last year, FYC or IWM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYC returned +21.7% and IWM +14.1%.
Which is cheaper, FYC or IWM?: IWM 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 FYC and IWM overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FYC and 0% of IWM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FYC vs VB FYC vs IJR FYC vs SCHA FYC vs VTWO IWM vs NUSC IWM vs RSSL GSSC vs IWM IWM vs VIOG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FYC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FYC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FYC ↗

IWM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWM ↗

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 IWM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyc-vs-iwm

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.