First Trust vs iShares: ETF issuers compared

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First Trust vs iShares: ETF issuers compared | ETF Tracker

Buffered: iShares wins, 100% to 100% of funds made money

Every dot is one buffered fund, placed at its 1-year return. Right of the line = made money. The ringed dot is the middle fund.

BOX SCORE · BUFFERED	First Trust	iShares
Funds in the category	105	8
Made money (W–L)	94–0	8–0
Win %	100%	100%
Money made	$4.4B	$50M
Typical return	+8.8%	+10.5%
Launches · 2026	10	0
Assets	$49.0B	$708M
Fee per $100	$0.60	$0.53

The biggest buffered funds on each side

First Trust

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
BUFR	FT Vest Laddered Buffer ETF	$10.9B	+10.5% ✓
BUFD	FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF	$2.2B	+8.8% ✓
BUFQ	FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF	$1.7B	+10.2% ✓
FJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January	$1.5B	+11.0% ✓
FMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May	$1.5B	+8.2% ✓
FAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August	$1.4B	+9.3% ✓

iShares

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
MAXJ	iShares Trust - iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Jun ETF	$163M	+5.8% ✓
DMAX	iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Dec ETF	$128M	+6.1% ✓
SMAX	iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Sep ETF	$125M	+6.8% ✓
MMAX	iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Mar ETF	$74M	+6.6% ✓
TEND	iShares Trust - iShares Large Cap 10% Target Buffer Dec ETF	$67M	+10.5% ✓
STEN	iShares Trust - iShares Large Cap 10% Target Buffer Sep ETF	$57M	+11.6% ✓

Twin funds: iShares is cheaper in 45 of 45. First Trust returned more in 26.

Pairs that hold the same market. Fee = per $100 a year. Returns within 0.1 points are a tie; 5-year returns are per year.

CHEAPER0 – 450 tieBETTER 1Y26 – 170 tieBETTER 5Y14 – 213 tie

US stocks · 13

FNX$0.62+15.9%+7.7%Mid caps+7.2%+16.1%$0.05IJH
FTC$0.58+3.8%+7.6%Large growth+10.3%−3.6%$0.18IWF
FYX$0.58+29.2%+8.9%Small caps+6.0%+21.9%$0.06IJR
FTA$0.58+29.8%+11.2%Large value+11.5%+29.2%$0.18IWD
FEX$0.57+19.7%+10.1%Large caps+11.2%+11.6%$0.15IWB
FNY$0.73+5.2%+5.3%Mid-cap growth+2.2%−7.0%$0.23IWP
DVOL$0.60+6.6%+5.4%Momentum+8.9%+9.2%$0.15MTUM
FNK$0.74+24.3%+8.4%Mid-cap value+9.1%+26.3%$0.23IWS
AFLG$0.55+13.8%+11.7%Active Large Cap—+15.8%$0.38BLCR
FYC$0.70+20.2%+8.9%Small-cap growth+4.2%+11.7%$0.06ISCG
FYT$0.70+33.9%+7.9%Small-cap value+8.0%+22.6%$0.06ISCV
AFSM$0.75+23.9%+8.5%Factor Small Cap+8.8%+34.3%$0.20SVAL
AFGR$0.65——Active Large Cap Growth—−0.6%$0.55BGRO

International · 7

FDT$0.80+18.9%+11.1%Developed markets+8.3%+13.4%$0.07IEFA
FEM$0.80+17.2%+7.2%Emerging markets+6.1%+11.5%$0.09IEMG
FDTS$0.80+23.1%+10.7%Non-US small caps+4.9%+12.5%$0.40SCZ
FPXE$0.70+2.2%+0.9%Europe+8.4%+12.3%$0.10IEUR
FKU$0.80+19.9%+9.4%United Kingdom+11.6%+16.2%$0.50EWU
AFEM$0.85+18.9%+9.9%

Bonds & cash · 4

FSIG$0.44+1.0%—Corporate bonds−0.8%−2.7%$0.14LQD
FCVT$0.95+0.7%+2.5%Convertible bonds+3.3%+2.2%$0.20ICVT
FCAL$0.49−0.0%+0.3%California munis+0.4%−0.3%$0.08CMF
FMNY$0.49−0.7%+0.2%New York munis+0.6%−0.2%$0.09NYF

All 45 twins

Sectors · 13

QTEC$0.55+18.9%+11.2%US tech+17.3%+13.9%$0.37IYW
FBT$0.55+45.2%+10.8%Biotech+6.2%+36.2%$0.44IBB
FXH$0.61+25.8%+3.3%Health care+7.6%+29.2%$0.37IYH
FXO$0.60+17.4%+8.8%Financials+9.9%+10.7%$0.37IYF
FRI$0.51+15.2%+3.3%US real estate+3.5%+15.5%$0.08USRT
MDEV$0.70

Squares, left to right: fee · 1 year · 5 years, coloured by who won. Most gaps come from different index rules, not fees.

Who wins each category · share of its funds that made money · 1Y

Buffered: iShares wins, 100% to 100% of funds made money

The biggest buffered funds on each side

First Trust

iShares

Twin funds: iShares is cheaper in 45 of 45. First Trust returned more in 26.

US stocks · 13

International · 7

Bonds & cash · 4

Sectors · 13

Thematic · 3

Income · 4

Other · 1

Tale of the tape

Buffered: iShares wins, 100% to 100% of funds made money

The biggest buffered funds on each side

FT First Trust

iS iShares

US stocks · 13

International · 7

Bonds & cash · 4

Sectors · 13

Share this matchup

Thematic · 3

Income · 4

Other · 1

First Trust

iShares