iShares vs First Trust: ETF issuers compared

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iShares vs First Trust: ETF issuers compared | ETF Tracker

Thematic: First Trust wins, 71% to 57% of funds made money

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

BOX SCORE · THEMATIC	iShares	First Trust
Funds in the category	25	15
Made money (W–L)	13–10	10–4
Win %	57%	71%
Money made	$14.2B	$5.9B
Typical return	+5.4%	+7.4%
Launches · 2026	2	1
Assets	$127B	$39.5B
Fee per $100	$0.41	$0.62

The biggest thematic funds on each side

iShares

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
SOXX	iShares Semiconductor ETF	$43.0B	+49.0% ✓
IGV	iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF	$12.8B	−10.6% ✕
ITA	iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF	$12.2B	−0.0% ✕
BAI	iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF	$12.2B	+3.7% ✓
IGF	iShares Global Infrastructure ETF	$10.9B	+10.8% ✓
IGM	iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF	$10.2B	+11.2% ✓

First Trust

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
CIBR	First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF	$17.5B	+27.4% ✓
GRID	First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund	$11.1B	+5.5% ✓
EMLP	First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund	$4.3B	+21.2% ✓
SKYY	First Trust Cloud Computing ETF	$3.3B	+10.9% ✓
FTXL	First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF	$1.1B	+61.5% ✓
ROBT	First Trust Nasdaq Artificial Intelligence and Robotics ETF	$723M	+0.5% ✓

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.

CHEAPER45 – 00 tieBETTER 1Y17 – 260 tieBETTER 5Y21 – 143 tie

US stocks · 13

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

International · 7

IEFA$0.07+13.4%+8.3%Developed markets+11.1%+18.9%$0.80FDT
IEMG$0.09+11.5%+6.1%Emerging markets+7.2%+17.2%$0.80FEM
SCZ$0.40+12.5%+4.9%Non-US small caps+10.7%+23.1%$0.80FDTS
IEUR$0.10+12.3%+8.4%Europe+0.9%+2.2%$0.70FPXE
EWU$0.50+16.2%+11.6%United Kingdom+9.4%+19.9%$0.80FKU
EMGF$0.26+14.2%+8.4%

Bonds & cash · 4

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

All 45 twins

Sectors · 13

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

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

Thematic: First Trust wins, 71% to 57% of funds made money

The biggest thematic funds on each side

iShares

First Trust

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

Thematic: First Trust wins, 71% to 57% of funds made money

The biggest thematic funds on each side

iS iShares

FT First Trust

US stocks · 13

International · 7

Bonds & cash · 4

Sectors · 13

Share this matchup

Thematic · 3

Income · 4

Other · 1

iShares

First Trust