Which returned more over the last year, IWS or VFMF?

In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWS returned +20.2% and VFMF +29.9%.

Which is cheaper, IWS or VFMF?

VFMF is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $5. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IWS and VFMF overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 66% of IWS and 47% of VFMF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

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IWS vs VFMF: how they differ

IWS and VFMF hold 5% of their weight in the same names, and VFMF returned +29.9% over the year. iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF and Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF.

VFMF costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.7 points; IWS is 13.9 times larger.

	IWS	VFMF
Expense ratio	0.23%	0.18%
Net assets, IWS as of Oct 9, 2026 and VFMF as of Sep 30, 2026	$15.3bn	$1.1bn
Total return, 1 year	+20.2%	+29.9%
Holdings in common	5%
Nasdaq-100, total return, 1 year	+23.6%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	7.0%	8.9%
Below its high	4.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026

Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+20.2%

IWS total return, 1 year

+29.9%

VFMF total return, 1 year

0.23%

IWS expense ratio

0.18%

VFMF expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, IWS and VFMF hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

50%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding IWS VFMF

DOLLAR GENERAL CORP 0.27% 0.25%

OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORP 0.44% 0.25%

SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL 0.24% 0.26%

ILLUMINA INC 0.40% 0.23%

DOLLAR TREE INC 0.23% 0.25%

CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP INC 0.27% 0.23%

INCYTE CORP 0.19% 0.25%

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS INC 0.17% 0.24%

TECHNIPFMC PLC 0.16% 0.29%

CARNIVAL CORP LTD 0.33% 0.14%

ASSURANT INC 0.13% 0.18%

JAZZ PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 0.13% 0.30%

Only in IWS

PHILLIPS 66 1.06%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE 0.94%

MODERNA 0.72%

MARATHON PETROLEUM 0.67%

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST REIT 0.65%

KINDER MORGAN 0.63%

ALLSTATE CORP 0.59%

AMETEK INC 0.57%

Only in VFMF

Micron Technology Inc 1.25%

Newmont Corp 0.89%

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co 0.88%

ConocoPhillips 0.86%

Bank of New York Mellon Corp/The 0.86%

EOG Resources Inc 0.84%

Travelers Cos Inc/The 0.83%

Altria Group Inc 0.83%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

IWS

iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF

VFMF

Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Tracks an index Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +20.2% +29.9%

S&P 500 over the same days +17.3% +17.3%

Gap to the S&P 500 +3.0 pts +12.7 pts

Expense ratio 0.23% 0.18%

Already in the S&P 500 66.1% 46.9%

Holdings 719 613

Net assets, IWS as of Oct 9, 2026 and VFMF as of Sep 30, 2026 $15.3bn $1.1bn

IWS and VFMF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

IWS in plain words

IWS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +20.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500 and +23.6% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.23% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 66% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 719 positions, with the top ten at 7.0%. It sat 4.6% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 9, 2026.

VFMF in plain words

VFMF is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +29.9% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for the S&P 500 and +23.6% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 47% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 613 positions, with the top ten at 8.9%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IWS or VFMF?: In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWS returned +20.2% and VFMF +29.9%.
Which is cheaper, IWS or VFMF?: VFMF is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $5. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IWS and VFMF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 66% of IWS and 47% of VFMF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IWS vs PEY FXO vs IWS FTXR vs IWS IWS vs RSPA COWZ vs VFMF SDY vs VFMF NOBL vs VFMF EMLP vs VFMF

IWS on its own →VFMF on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

IWS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗IWS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for IWS ↗VFMF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗VFMF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Vanguard page for VFMF ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, IWS against VFMF, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iws-vs-vfmf

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.