Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWM vs RYLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWM returned +14.1% to RYLD's +12.1%, and IWM charges 0.19% to RYLD's 0.60%.
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Net assets: $75.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 2000 ETF, and $1.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Russell 2000 Covered Call ETF.
Pair scorecard
IWM costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; IWM is far larger, $77.7bn against $1.3bn.
| Measure | IWM | RYLD |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.1% | +12.1% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 13.0% | fell 0.6% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 11.5% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 100% of the Sep 24, 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% | 0.60% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $77.7bn | $1.3bn |
| 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 Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 390 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWM against VTWO, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; RYLD against IWM, May 3, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWM returned more: +88.6% to +45.4%. RYLD swung less: 15.4% to 24.6%. RYLD fell slightly less at its worst: −38.1% to −40.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWM | RYLD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +88.6% | +45.4% | IWM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.8% | +5.1% | IWM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +71.8% | −40.0% | IWM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 24.6% | 15.4% | RYLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 17.0% | 12.6% | RYLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.0% | −38.1% | RYLD (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 101.0% | 33.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.5% | 62.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.01 | 0.54 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.73 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.35 | 0.22 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.51 | 0.27 | IWM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.063 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.22 | 0.13 | 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 | −1.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.36 | −0.43 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.6% to +0.4% | −7.0% to +4.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.02 | −0.38 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 13.9% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 390 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWM and RYLD hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWM and RYLD 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 RYLD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWM follows Russell 2000 Index and RYLD 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 Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWM returned +14.1% and RYLD +12.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.0 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.
RYLD
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, RYLD paid 12.1% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 0.6%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +12.1%. Russell 2000 (IWM) returned +14.1% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 2.0 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 11.5%, paid monthly. Global X estimates that 100% of the distribution paid Sep 24, 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 RYLD in the same category?
- IWM is a stock ETF and RYLD 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 RYLD?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWM returned +14.1% and RYLD +12.1%.
- Which is cheaper, IWM or RYLD?
- IWM is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 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 RYLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-ryld
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWM against RYLD. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-ryld
[IWM against RYLD (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwm-vs-ryld)
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