Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IJR vs VPU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IJR returned +17.5% to VPU's −3.3%; 2% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about IJR and VPU
Net assets: $104.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, and $7.7bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Utilities ETF.
Pair scorecard
IJR costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.8 points; IJR is 13.3 times larger.
| Measure | IJR | VPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.5% | −3.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 8.9%, high on Feb 27, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P SmallCap 600 | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.06% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $102.6bn | $7.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 5.3% | 52.3% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Feb 6, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,185 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IJR against SPSM, Jul 19, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; VPU against FUTY, Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
IJR returned slightly more: +702.4% to +683.7%. VPU swung less: 17.6% to 22.1%. VPU fell less at its worst: −44.9% to −57.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IJR | VPU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +702.4% | +683.7% | IJR (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.6% | +9.5% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +497.1% | +273.2% | IJR | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.1% | 17.6% | VPU | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.3% | 12.5% | VPU | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −57.3% | −44.9% | VPU | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 98.7% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.9% | 100.1% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.44 | 0.50 | VPU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.64 | 0.70 | VPU (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.097 | 0.087 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.17 | 0.21 | VPU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPSM | FUTY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.91 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +1.9% | −0.4% to +0.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.20 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 2.4% | 0.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,185 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IJR and VPU hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IJR and VPU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IJR and VPU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IJR follows S&P SmallCap 600 and VPU follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IJR returned +17.5% and VPU −3.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 20.8 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.
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.
VPU
VPU tracks an index of Utilities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −3.3% with distributions reinvested, against −3.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Utilities 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 90% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 70 positions, with the top ten at 52.3%. It sat 8.9% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IJR or VPU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IJR returned +17.5% and VPU −3.3%.
- Which is cheaper, IJR or VPU?
- IJR is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 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, IJR against VPU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-vpu
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IJR against VPU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-vpu
[IJR against VPU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ijr-vs-vpu)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.