Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PSC vs VTWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PSC returned +21.0% to VTWO's +14.3%; 36% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $2.7bn on Oct 26, 2026 for Principal U.S. Small-Cap ETF, and $16.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VTWO costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points.
| Measure | PSC | VTWO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +21.0% | +14.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Russell 2000 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.38% | 0.06% |
| Net assets, PSC as of Oct 26, 2026 and VTWO as of Sep 30, 2026 | $2.7bn | $16.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 36% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 11.2% | 5.4% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 30, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026 · 525 weekly returns · each against IWMPSC returned more: +204.6% to +155.0%. PSC and VTWO swung about the same: 23.2% and 22.7%. VTWO fell less at its worst: −40.2% to −44.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PSC | VTWO | IWM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +204.6% | +155.0% | PSC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.7% | +9.7% | PSC | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +170.5% | +123.7% | PSC | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 23.2% | 22.7% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 16.0% | 15.7% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −44.9% | −40.2% | VTWO | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 84.9% | 99.1% | 100.0% | VTWO | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 91.9% | 99.6% | 100.0% | PSC (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.95 | 0.99 | 1.00 | PSC lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.49 | 0.41 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.70 | 0.60 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.118 | 0.094 | 0.093 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.26 | 0.24 | PSC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | IWM | IWM | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | +0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.96 | 0.73 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +7.4% | −0.3% to +0.6% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | 0.15 | PSC | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.1% | 0.7% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 525 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PSC and VTWO hold 36% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026.
half
36% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PSC and VTWO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PSC and VTWO are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. PSC follows No index, actively managed and VTWO follows Russell 2000 Index.
- Holdings in common. 36% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PSC returned +21.0% and VTWO +14.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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PSC
PSC is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.0% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.38% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 506 positions, with the top ten at 11.2%.
VTWO
VTWO tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.3% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,002 positions, with the top ten at 5.4%. It sat 7.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PSC or VTWO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PSC returned +21.0% and VTWO +14.3%.
- Which is cheaper, PSC or VTWO?
- VTWO is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 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, PSC against VTWO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-vtwo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PSC against VTWO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-vtwo
[PSC against VTWO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-vtwo)
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