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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYC returned +21.7% and SMLF +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, FYC or SMLF?

SMLF is cheaper, by 0.55 percentage points a year. That is about $55 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FYC and SMLF overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FYC and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FYC vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FYC returned +21.7% to SMLF's +14.8%; 8% 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 $4.2bn for iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF.

FYC on its own →SMLF on its own →

At a glance

+21.7%

FYC total return, 1 year

+14.8%

SMLF total return, 1 year

0.70%

FYC expense ratio

0.15%

SMLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SMLF costs 0.55 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.9 points; SMLF is 3.2 times larger.

FYC vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYC	SMLF
Return
Measure	FYC	SMLF
Total return, 1 year	+21.7%	+14.8%
Drawdown
Measure	FYC	SMLF
Below its high	8.6%, high on Jun 30, 2026	5.2%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FYC	SMLF
What it tracks	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index	STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index
Cost and size
Measure	FYC	SMLF
Expense ratio	0.70%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.3bn	$4.2bn
Holdings
Measure	FYC	SMLF
Holdings in common	8%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	7.7%	6.4%

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

Risk and return

May 8, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026 · 598 weekly returns

FYC SMLF

Return

Total return edge FYC +280.5% +225.7%

Annualized edge FYC +12.3% +10.8%

Price return edge FYC +267.7% +183.9%

Risk

Volatility edge SMLF 23.5% 21.0%

Max drawdown edge SMLF −46.4% −40.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FYC (slight) 0.52 0.49

Sortino edge FYC (slight) 0.76 0.70

Calmar edge Tie 0.27 0.27

Reading

FYC returned more: +280.5% to +225.7%. SMLF swung less: 21.0% to 23.5%. SMLF fell less at its worst: −40.4% to −46.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FYC vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYC	SMLF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+280.5%	+225.7%	FYC	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+12.3%	+10.8%	FYC	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+267.7%	+183.9%	FYC	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.5%	21.0%	SMLF	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.1%	14.6%	SMLF (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−46.4%	−40.4%	SMLF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.52	0.49	FYC (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.76	0.70	FYC (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.27	0.27	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 598 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, FYC and SMLF hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

8% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FYC SMLF

American States Water Company 0.26% 0.26%

SL Green Realty Corp. 0.26% 0.28%

Slide Insurance Holdings, Inc. 0.81% 0.25%

Workiva Inc. 0.47% 0.23%

HCI Group, Inc. 0.58% 0.23%

Appian Corporation 0.90% 0.20%

Delek US Holdings, Inc. 0.62% 0.19%

NetScout Systems, Inc. 0.38% 0.18%

Veracyte, Inc. 0.41% 0.17%

Extreme Networks, Inc. 0.28% 0.16%

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 0.25% 0.15%

CoreCivic, Inc. 0.61% 0.15%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FYC

Netskope, Inc. (Class A) 0.76%

First Advantage Corporation 0.75%

RXO, Inc. 0.72%

Septerna, Inc. 0.72%

Vestis Corporation 0.72%

agilon health, inc. 0.72%

Stagwell Inc. 0.69%

Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. 0.69%

Only in SMLF

EMCOR GROUP 0.81%

EVERPURE INC CLASS A 0.72%

NVENT ELECTRIC PLC 0.72%

JABIL 0.69%

WILLIAMS SONOMA INC 0.68%

RELIANCE STEEL & ALUMINUM 0.61%

FLEX LTD 0.58%

GUARDANT HEALTH 0.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FYC First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund SMLF iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust iShares

What it is Tracks an index Tracks an index

Total return, 1 year +21.7% +14.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +8.4 pts vs IWV not measured

Expense ratio 0.70% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 10.6%

Holdings 264 962

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.3bn $4.2bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-EBC5FEAE21

FYC and SMLF 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 SMLF follows STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index.
Holdings in common. 8% 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 SMLF +14.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.9 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.

SMLF

SMLF tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 11% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 962 positions, with the top ten at 6.4%. It sat 5.2% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FYC or SMLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYC returned +21.7% and SMLF +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, FYC or SMLF?: SMLF is cheaper, by 0.55 percentage points a year. That is about $55 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FYC and SMLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FYC and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FYC vs SLYG FYC vs PSC ESML vs FYC BBMC vs FYC SMLF vs VIOG SMLF vs XSMO SMLF vs VIOO SDVY vs SMLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FYC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FYC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FYC ↗

SMLF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SMLF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SMLF ↗

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

Open data →

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