Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
MTUM vs VFMO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MTUM returned +18.4% to VFMO's +14.5%; 27% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $18.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF, and $1.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard U.S. Momentum Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
VFMO costs 0.02 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.9 points; MTUM is 10.7 times larger.
| Measure | MTUM | VFMO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.4% | +14.5% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 11.9%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | 10.0%, high on Jun 30, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.13% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $20.4bn | $1.9bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 27% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 35.5% | 9.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Feb 23, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026 · 452 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: MTUM against MLRG, Apr 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; VFMO against IWV, Feb 23, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026.
VFMO returned slightly more: +201.8% to +188.4%. MTUM swung slightly less: 21.9% to 23.0%. MTUM fell less at its worst: −31.9% to −35.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | MTUM | VFMO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +188.4% | +201.8% | VFMO (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +13.0% | +13.6% | VFMO (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +161.3% | +178.2% | VFMO (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.9% | 23.0% | MTUM (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.0% | 15.9% | MTUM (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.9% | −35.7% | MTUM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 106.2% | 112.3% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 101.7% | 105.6% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.02 | 1.13 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.76 | 0.81 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.54 | 0.55 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.79 | 0.80 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.135 | 0.112 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.41 | 0.38 | MTUM (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IWV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.3% a year | −0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.53 | −0.13 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.7% to +6.3% | −7.1% to +6.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.17 | 0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.3% | 10.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 452 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, MTUM and VFMO hold 27% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated May 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
27% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
MTUM and VFMO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
No client brief for this pair: the two funds' holdings are dated 149 days apart.
MTUM
MTUM tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 126 positions, with the top ten at 35.5%. It sat 11.9% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.5% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.
VFMO is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 43% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 704 positions, with the top ten at 9.5%. It sat 10.0% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, MTUM or VFMO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, MTUM returned +18.4% and VFMO +14.5%.
- Which is cheaper, MTUM or VFMO?
- VFMO is cheaper, by 0.02 percentage points a year. That is about $2 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, MTUM against VFMO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-vfmo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). MTUM against VFMO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-vfmo
[MTUM against VFMO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/mtum-vs-vfmo)
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