Fidelity Enhanced Small Cap ETF
$45.37−0.65 (−1.41%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.28%
- Fund size
- $6.5B
- 1Y return
- +25.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 0.85%
- Holdings
- 632
- Volume · 30D
- 0.8M sh
- NAV per share
- $45.85
- 52W range
The ETF.net FESM Grade
Score 85 of 100 sits in the A band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.AScore 96Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 85Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 60Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 90Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 81Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 93Category rank
Our read on FESM
AA quant small-cap strategy that has been running since 2007 and moved into an ETF wrapper in 2023 with the same mandate. It nudges the Russell 2000 rather than copying it, and charges far less than the typical active small-cap fund.
The fund is a diversified U.S. equity strategy focused on small-cap companies. It seeks to outperform its benchmark through a quantitative process that balances risk and return.
Why people hold it
- Costs 0.28% a year, roughly half the median for active US small-cap ETFs. Cheap fuel for a strategy that only needs to beat its benchmark by a little.
- The strategy dates to 2007 as a Fidelity mutual fund and kept the same objective when it converted to an ETF in 2023. Long history, newer ticker.fidelity.com
- A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out tends to be straightforward. One of the stronger builds in the active small-cap group.
- Spreads across roughly 600 small-cap names, so no single blowup dominates. This is a diversified core sleeve, not a concentrated stock-picker bet.
Worth knowing
- Small caps are the choppiest corner of the US market, and this fund lives there full time. Expect a bumpier ride than a large-cap core holding.institutional.fidelity.com
- Enhanced index means small tilts around the Russell 2000, not a break from it. Results track close to the index rather than looking dramatically different.institutional.fidelity.com
- Cheap, but not the cheapest in the room: top-rated peers AVSC and AVUV run 0.25% and DUHP 0.20%.
FESM Holdings
- Stocks
- 632
- 10%
- SECURITIES LENDING CF
Sectors
- Health Care21.7%
- Technology18.0%
- Financials16.7%
- Industrials14.1%
- Consumer Discr.9.1%
- Energy5.9%
- Real Estate4.5%
- Materials3.8%
- Communication3.0%
- Utilities1.8%
- Cons. Staples1.4%
Geography
- United States96.33%
- Bermuda1.52%
- Ireland0.62%
- Puerto Rico0.41%
- Canada0.34%
- Switzerland0.31%
- Cayman Islands0.17%
- United Kingdom0.13%
- 0.16%
FESM Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FESM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +22.7% |
| 1 month | −3.8% |
| 3 months | −2.3% |
| 1 year | +25.6% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FESM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +22.7% | |
| 2025 | +17.9% | |
| 2024 | +16.2% | |
| 2023 | +12.2% |
FESM in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FESM yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FESM Dividends
- 0.85%
- $0.39
- $0.10 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 2026 | Sep 22, 2026 | $0.10 |
| Jun 18, 2026 | Jun 23, 2026 | $0.11 |
| Mar 20, 2026 | Mar 24, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Dec 19, 2025 | Dec 23, 2025 | $0.08 |
| Sep 19, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 | $0.05 |
| Jun 20, 2025 | Jun 24, 2025 | $0.01 |
| Mar 21, 2025 | Mar 25, 2025 | $0.16 |
| Dec 20, 2024 | Dec 24, 2024 | $0.16 |
| Sep 20, 2024 | Sep 24, 2024 | $0.07 |
| Jun 21, 2024 | Jun 25, 2024 | $0.05 |
| Mar 15, 2024 | Mar 20, 2024 | $0.07 |
| Dec 28, 2023 | Jan 3, 2024 | $0.02 |
FESM Risk
- 19.8%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.09
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −26.9%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.32
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FESM Cost
- The middle half of US Active Small-Cap funds
- Median 0.55%
1 of the 39 US Active Small-Cap funds charge less.