MLRG vs MOAT: Differences, Returns & Fees
MLRG and MOAT hold 17% of their weight in the same names, and MLRG returned +15.5% over the year. Net assets: $1.3bn on Oct 20, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA ETF, and $11.6bn on Oct 19, 2026 for VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF.
MLRG costs 0.43 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.9 points; MOAT is 8.9 times larger.
| MLRG | MOAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.46% |
| Net assets | $1.3bn | $11.8bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +15.5% | +11.6% |
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Index | Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index |
| Holdings in common | 17% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 37.8% | 26.6% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 19, 2026.
MLRG and MOAT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. MLRG follows MSCI USA Index and MOAT follows Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index.
- Holdings in common. 17% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 19, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 20, 2026 MLRG returned +15.5% and MOAT +11.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.9 points.
Data as of Oct 20, 2026. The differences are picked by a fixed rule, in a fixed order; the PDF prints it. Page 2 has the returns, overlap, risks and sources.
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What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, MLRG and MOAT hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 19, 2026.
half
17% in common
On the same fields
MLRG and MOAT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About MLRG
MLRG tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +15.5% with distributions reinvested, against +15.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 19, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 515 positions, with the top ten at 37.8%.
About MOAT
MOAT tracks the Morningstar Wide Moat. Over the year to Oct 20, 2026 it returned +11.6% with distributions reinvested, against +15.9% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.46% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 19, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 54 positions, with the top ten at 26.6%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, MLRG or MOAT?
- In the year to Oct 20, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MLRG returned +15.5% and MOAT +11.6%.
- Which is cheaper, MLRG or MOAT?
- MLRG is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, MLRG against MOAT, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mlrg-vs-moat
ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). MLRG against MOAT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mlrg-vs-moat
[MLRG against MOAT (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mlrg-vs-moat)
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