Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWM vs IWMY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWM returned +14.1% to IWMY's +5.2%, and IWM charges 0.19% to IWMY's 1.05%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $75.5bn for iShares Russell 2000 ETF and $80m for Defiance R2000 Weekly Distribution ETF.
Pair scorecard
IWM costs 0.86 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.9 points; IWM is far larger, $75.5bn against $80m.
| Measure | IWM | IWMY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.1% | +5.2% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 13.0% | fell 23.5% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 29.7% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 11% of the Oct 16, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 2000 Index | Benchmark: Russell 2000, measured through IWM |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 1.05% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $75.5bn | $80m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.3% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 10, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 154 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; IWMY against IWM, Nov 10, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWM returned more: +68.6% to +36.6%. IWMY swung less: 14.2% to 19.2%. IWMY fell less at its worst: −16.3% to −24.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWM | IWMY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +68.6% | +36.6% | IWM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +19.3% | +11.1% | IWM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +63.1% | −72.8% | IWM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 19.2% | 14.2% | IWMY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.6% | 10.1% | IWMY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.7% | −16.3% | IWMY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.0% | 56.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.5% | 81.5% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.68 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.84 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.79 | 0.50 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.20 | 0.71 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.105 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.78 | 0.68 | IWM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VTWO | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −3.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.36 | −0.93 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.4% | −9.8% to +3.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.02 | −0.95 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 8.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 154 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWM and IWMY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWM and IWMY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
IWM and IWMY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWM follows Russell 2000 Index and IWMY is measured against Russell 2000 through IWM.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWM returned +14.1% and IWMY +5.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
IWMY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWMY paid 28.2% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 23.5%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +5.2%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 8.9 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 29.7%, paid weekly. Defiance estimates that 11% of the distribution paid Oct 16, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are IWM and IWMY in the same category?
- IWM is a stock ETF and IWMY is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, IWM or IWMY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWM returned +14.1% and IWMY +5.2%.
- Which is cheaper, IWM or IWMY?
- IWM is cheaper, by 0.86 percentage points a year. That is about $86 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, IWM against IWMY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-iwmy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWM against IWMY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-iwmy
[IWM against IWMY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-iwmy)
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