Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWM vs KAPR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWM returned +14.1% to KAPR's +14.9%, and IWM charges 0.19% to KAPR's 0.79%.
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Net assets: $75.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 2000 ETF, and $179m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Small Cap Power Buffer ETF - Apr.
Pair scorecard
IWM costs 0.60 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points; IWM is far larger, $75.5bn against $179m.
| Measure | IWM | KAPR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.1% | +14.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Index fall to the buffer | 11.8% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 9.7% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 2000 Index | IWM |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 8.9% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 15.0% of 15.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 154 | |
| Period ends | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $75.5bn | $179m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.3% | |
Risk and return
Apr 9, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 341 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; KAPR against IWM, Apr 9, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWM returned more: +141.2% to +64.3%. KAPR swung less: 10.2% to 22.1%. KAPR fell less at its worst: −16.4% to −31.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWM | KAPR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +141.2% | +64.3% | IWM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.4% | +7.9% | IWM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +122.9% | +64.3% | IWM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.1% | 10.2% | KAPR | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.6% | 7.1% | KAPR | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.2% | −16.4% | KAPR | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.0% | 29.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.5% | 55.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.42 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.83 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.58 | 0.50 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.88 | 0.72 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.120 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.46 | 0.48 | KAPR (slight) | 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 | −0.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.36 | −0.21 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.4% | −3.6% to +2.9% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.02 | −0.58 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 13.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 341 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
IWM and KAPR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWM and KAPR do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWM follows Russell 2000 Index and KAPR follows IWM.
- Cost. IWM charges 0.19% of assets a year and KAPR 0.79%, a gap of 0.60 points.
- Size. IWM has $75.5bn in net assets and KAPR $179m (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); IWM is 421.8 times larger.
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.
KAPR
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 8.9% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 9.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, IWM can fall 11.8% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's IWM level. 154 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
- Are IWM and KAPR in the same category?
- IWM is a stock ETF and KAPR is a buffer 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 KAPR?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWM returned +14.1% and KAPR +14.9%.
- Which is cheaper, IWM or KAPR?
- IWM is cheaper, by 0.60 percentage points a year. That is about $60 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, IWM against KAPR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-kapr
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[IWM against KAPR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-kapr)
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