Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWO vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWO returned +7.9% to IXUS's +14.1%; 1% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $14.0bn for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF and $57.6bn for iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF.
Pair scorecard
IXUS costs 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.2 points; IXUS is 4.1 times larger.
| Measure | IWO | IXUS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +7.9% | +14.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 9.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 2000 Growth Index | MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.24% | 0.07% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $14.0bn | $57.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 6.4% | 13.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026 · 729 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWO against VTWG, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; IXUS against ACWX, Nov 2, 2012 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWO returned more: +317.2% to +177.4%. IXUS swung less: 15.8% to 21.9%. IXUS fell less at its worst: −34.6% to −40.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWO | IXUS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +317.2% | +177.4% | IWO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.7% | +7.5% | IWO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +275.2% | +90.2% | IWO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.9% | 15.8% | IXUS | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.1% | 11.3% | IXUS | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.5% | −34.6% | IXUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.2% | 99.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 99.4% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 0.99 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.99 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.49 | 0.42 | IWO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.71 | 0.59 | IWO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.111 | 0.068 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.26 | 0.22 | IWO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VTWG | ACWX | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.06 | 0.64 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.7% to +0.7% | −0.5% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.01 | 0.14 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.5% | 1.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 729 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWO and IXUS hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWO and IXUS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWO and IXUS do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWO follows Russell 2000 Growth Index and IXUS follows MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWO returned +7.9% and IXUS +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWO
IWO tracks the Russell 2000 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.9% with distributions reinvested, against +8.0% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% 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 1,122 positions, with the top ten at 6.4%. It sat 9.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
IXUS
IXUS tracks the MSCI Total International Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% 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 4,584 positions, with the top ten at 13.5%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IWO or IXUS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWO returned +7.9% and IXUS +14.1%.
- Which is cheaper, IWO or IXUS?
- IXUS is cheaper, by 0.17 percentage points a year. That is about $17 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, IWO against IXUS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwo-vs-ixus
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