Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FYX vs IJR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FYX returned +26.2% to IJR's +17.5%; 34% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.4bn for First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund and $104.6bn for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
IJR costs 0.52 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.7 points; IJR is far larger, $104.6bn against $1.4bn.
| Measure | FYX | IJR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +26.2% | +17.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.0%, high on Aug 4, 2026 | 6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index | S&P SmallCap 600 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.58% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.4bn | $104.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 34% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.9% | 5.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,014 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FYX against IWV, May 18, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; IJR against SPSM, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
FYX returned slightly more: +445.9% to +411.4%. IJR swung slightly less: 23.0% to 24.6%. IJR fell slightly less at its worst: −57.3% to −60.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FYX | IJR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +445.9% | +411.4% | FYX (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.1% | +8.7% | FYX (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +363.4% | +290.8% | FYX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 24.6% | 23.0% | IJR (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.0% | 15.9% | IJR (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −60.9% | −57.3% | IJR (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 122.6% | 98.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 110.3% | 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 | 0.41 | 0.41 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.60 | 0.60 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.086 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.15 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWV | SPSM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −1.6% a year | +0.6% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.62 | 0.91 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −6.7% to +3.5% | −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 | 12.0% | 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, 1,014 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FYX and IJR hold 34% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
34% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FYX and IJR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FYX and IJR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. FYX follows Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index and IJR follows S&P SmallCap 600.
- Holdings in common. 34% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FYX returned +26.2% and IJR +17.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +26.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
FYX tracks an index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.58% 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 525 positions, with the top ten at 3.9%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Aug 4, 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, FYX or IJR?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYX returned +26.2% and IJR +17.5%.
- Which is cheaper, FYX or IJR?
- IJR is cheaper, by 0.52 percentage points a year. That is about $52 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.
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ETFIQ, FYX against IJR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyx-vs-ijr
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FYX against IJR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyx-vs-ijr
[FYX against IJR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fyx-vs-ijr)
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