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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYX returned +26.2% and SMLF +14.8%.

Which is cheaper, FYX or SMLF?

SMLF is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FYX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FYX returned +26.2% to SMLF's +14.8%; 15% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about FYX and SMLF

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.4bn for First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund and $4.2bn for iShares U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor ETF.

FYX on its own →SMLF on its own →

At a glance

+26.2%

FYX total return, 1 year

+14.8%

SMLF total return, 1 year

0.58%

FYX expense ratio

0.15%

SMLF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SMLF costs 0.43 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points; SMLF is 3.0 times larger.

FYX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYX	SMLF
Return
Measure	FYX	SMLF
Total return, 1 year	+26.2%	+14.8%
Drawdown
Measure	FYX	SMLF
Below its high	5.0%, high on Aug 4, 2026	5.2%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FYX	SMLF
What it tracks	Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index	STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index
Cost and size
Measure	FYX	SMLF
Expense ratio	0.58%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$1.4bn	$4.2bn
Holdings
Measure	FYX	SMLF
Holdings in common	15%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	3.9%	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

FYX SMLF

Return

Total return edge SMLF (slight) +209.1% +225.7%

Annualized edge SMLF (slight) +10.3% +10.8%

Price return edge SMLF (slight) +175.2% +183.9%

Risk

Volatility edge SMLF 23.5% 21.0%

Max drawdown edge SMLF −47.6% −40.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SMLF 0.44 0.49

Sortino edge SMLF (slight) 0.65 0.70

Calmar edge SMLF 0.22 0.27

Reading

SMLF returned slightly more: +225.7% to +209.1%. SMLF swung less: 21.0% to 23.5%. SMLF fell less at its worst: −40.4% to −47.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FYX vs SMLF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FYX	SMLF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+209.1%	+225.7%	SMLF (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.3%	+10.8%	SMLF (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+175.2%	+183.9%	SMLF (slight)	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.5%	21.0%	SMLF	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.0%	14.6%	SMLF (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−47.6%	−40.4%	SMLF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.44	0.49	SMLF	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.65	0.70	SMLF (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.27	SMLF	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

15%

By the books each fund has filed, FYX and SMLF hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

15% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FYX SMLF

Signet Jewelers Limited 0.28% 0.27%

Slide Insurance Holdings, Inc. 0.39% 0.25%

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Class A) 0.27% 0.23%

Workiva Inc. 0.23% 0.23%

Perdoceo Education Corporation 0.25% 0.21%

HCI Group, Inc. 0.21% 0.23%

Appian Corporation 0.43% 0.20%

Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. (Class B) 0.33% 0.20%

Delek US Holdings, Inc. 0.30% 0.19%

OFG Bancorp 0.19% 0.25%

NetScout Systems, Inc. 0.18% 0.18%

Kohl's Corporation 0.39% 0.17%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FYX

Comstock Resources, Inc. 0.37%

First Advantage Corporation 0.36%

NMI Holdings, Inc. (Class A) 0.35%

Septerna, Inc. 0.35%

G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. 0.34%

Avista Corporation 0.33%

Clover Health Investments, Corp. 0.33%

Flywire Corporation 0.33%

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

FYX First Trust Small Cap Core 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 +26.2% +14.8%

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

Gap to its benchmark +12.9 pts vs IWV not measured

Expense ratio 0.58% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 10.6%

Holdings 525 962

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.4bn $4.2bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-2C93F7EFAD

FYX and SMLF 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 SMLF follows STOXX U.S. Small-Cap Equity Factor Index.
Holdings in common. 15% 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 SMLF +14.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.4 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.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

About each fund

FYX

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.

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, FYX or SMLF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FYX returned +26.2% and SMLF +14.8%.
Which is cheaper, FYX or SMLF?: SMLF is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FYX and SMLF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of FYX and 11% of SMLF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FYX vs SLYG FYX vs PSC ESML vs FYX BBMC vs FYX SMLF vs SPSM SMLF vs VB NUSC vs SMLF IWC vs SMLF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FYX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FYX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FYX ↗

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

Open data →

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