FSGS vs ILCG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF

FSGSDNasdaq

iShares Morningstar Growth ETF

ILCGANYSE Arca

Overlap

0.8%by weight

Expense ratio

ILCG −0.56pt a year

FSGS0.60%ILCG0.04%

Avg volume · 30D

ILCG 63.1×the volume

FSGS1.12KILCG70.4K

5Y return · a year

ILCG +5.6pt

FSGS+4.2%ILCG+9.8%

FSGS vs ILCG Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+22.7%FSGS+59.5%ILCG

Expense ratio: FSGS 0.60%; ILCG 0.04%, better
Fund size: FSGS $30M; ILCG $3B
1Y total return: FSGS +8.9%, better; ILCG +3.2%
Yield (12M): FSGS 0.03%; ILCG 0.44%, better
Holdings: FSGS 101; ILCG 328
Avg volume (30D): FSGS 1.12K sh; ILCG 70.4K sh, better
NAV per share: FSGS $33.07; ILCG $109.98
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FSGS, ILCG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FSGS	ILCG
Cost30% weight	F6	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	C50	A100Higher
Risk15% weight	C54Higher	C44
Tradability15% weight	D33	B64Higher
Holdings10% weight	A75Higher	C49
Durability5% weight	D28	B64Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FSGS and ILCG are both graded against the same 35 US Growth Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Growth Index⁠

Category · 35 funds

See all 35 ›

ILCG ranks 2nd and FSGS 34th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 1ASPYGState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETFScore 84
Rank 2AILCGiShares Morningstar Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 2AIMCGiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 32CRKSGRuk Strategic Growth ETFScore 40
Rank 34DFSGSFirst Trust SMID Growth Strength ETFScore 36
Rank 35DBULPacer US Cash Cows Growth ETFScore 29

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FSGSDFirst Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF

ILCGAiShares Morningstar Growth ETF

In short

FSGS Growth only after the balance sheet passes inspection: FSGS screens small and mid caps for cash, low debt and double-digit return on equity, then ranks survivors on three-year revenue and cash flow growth. About 100 names, equally weighted.

ILCG Growth by Morningstar's rulebook. A 2004-vintage iShares fund that screens large and mid caps for above-average earnings, sales, cash-flow and book-value growth, and charges four basis points to do it.

Stated mandate

FSGS The Fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield of The SMID Growth Strength Index before fees and expenses.

ILCG The fund aims to follow an index of U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks chosen for above-average earnings, sales, cash-flow, and book-value growth.

Why people hold it

FSGS Quality gate comes first: at least $100 million in cash, long-term debt under 30% of market cap, positive equity, positive revenue and cash flow, and ROE above 10%.ftportfolios.com
Growth ranking is backward-looking and concrete: three-year revenue growth and three-year cash flow growth, weighted equally. No analyst forecasts in the recipe.ftportfolios.com
Equal weighting across about 100 stocks, reset quarterly, so one hot name cannot quietly become the fund. A different shape from cap-weighted growth indexes.ftportfolios.com
Small and mid caps put it in a different lane from the megacap-heavy growth funds that lead this category, including SPYG, SCHG and VUG.nasdaq.com

ILCG 0.04% a year. The typical fund in its factor peer group charges roughly eight times that, so almost none of the return leaks out the fee door.
Uses Morningstar's growth definition (earnings, sales, cash flow, book value) rather than S&P's or Russell's, and reaches into mid caps, not just the S&P 500.ishares.com
Trading since 2004, a multi-billion-dollar fund holding roughly 300 stocks. Long-running plumbing, not a launch-week experiment.
Tracking has been tight, and the fund sits in the upper half of its factor cohort overall, with cost doing much of the heavy lifting.

Worth knowing

FSGS At 0.60% with no waiver, it sits above the category median, and well above cap-weighted options like VUG at 0.03% and mid-cap growth fund IMCG at 0.06%.
The ticker dates to 2017, but it tracked a different index until late 2024, so the live record for this strategy is short.sec.gov
One of the smaller, more lightly traded funds in the growth group, so spreads can run wider than in the category's giants.

ILCG Pure growth means no value ballast, and the ride has been bumpier than most funds in its factor group. The style can sit out of favor for long stretches.
Concentration runs high for the cohort: cap-weighted growth screens funnel a big share of the fund into the same handful of mega-cap names.
Moderately traded, not a tape leader. Sibling IUSG applies S&P's growth definition at the same 0.04%, so the pick is which index rulebook you prefer.

Full FSGS profile⁠

Full ILCG profile⁠

FSGS vs ILCG Holdings

How FSGS and ILCG differ

Overlap by weight

0.8%

Shared holdings make up 14.6% of FSGS and 0.8% of ILCG.

Level by level

Holdings15 in both0.8%
Sector11 Sectors62.1%
Countryby domicile99.5%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in FSGS and ILCG, widest gap first
Sector	More in FSGSMore in ILCG	FSGS	ILCG
Technology	ILCG +28.4 points	25.1%	53.5%
Health Care	FSGS +15.8 points	22.4%	6.5%
Financials	FSGS +13.8 points	19.3%	5.5%
Communication	ILCG +7.0 points	1.5%	8.5%
Energy	FSGS +2.5 points	3.3%	0.8%
Industrials	FSGS +2.4 points	12.1%	9.7%
Consumer Staples	FSGS +2.1 points	3.9%	1.8%
Materials	ILCG +1.4 points	0.0%	1.4%
Real Estate	FSGS +1.3 points	2.9%	1.6%
Utilities	ILCG +0.9 points	0.0%	0.9%
Consumer Discretionary	ILCG +0.1 points	9.6%	9.7%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FSGS and ILCG, widest gap first
Country	More in FSGSMore in ILCG	FSGS	ILCG
United States	FSGS +0.5 points	100.0%	99.5%
Other countries (5)	ILCG +0.5 points	0.0%	0.5%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FSGS11.2%
ILCG49.8%

Securities held

FSGS100
ILCG325

Asset class

FSGS: Equity
ILCG: Equity

Holdings

Only in FSGS85
In both15
Only in ILCG310

Only in FSGS

85 securities, 85.3% of FSGS by weight

AvePoint, Inc.1.17%
Arlo Technologies, Inc.1.17%
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated1.15%
Evercore Inc.1.12%
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.1.10%
Flowserve Corporation1.10%
Manhattan Associates, Inc.1.10%
Exelixis, Inc.1.09%
FIGS, Inc. (Class A)1.09%
HealthEquity, Inc.1.09%
Oshkosh Corporation1.08%
DocuSign, Inc.1.08%
Tidewater Inc.1.08%
PJT Partners Inc. (Class A)1.07%
Morningstar, Inc.1.07%
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc.1.06%
Upwork Inc.1.06%
Texas Roadhouse, Inc.1.06%
Q2 Holdings, Inc.1.06%
Five Below, Inc.1.06%
Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Class A)1.06%
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.1.05%
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.1.05%
Moelis & Company (Class A)1.05%
Freshworks Inc. (Class A)1.05%
UiPath, Inc. (Class A)1.05%
QuinStreet, Inc.1.04%
Encompass Health Corporation1.04%
Insulet Corporation1.04%
Elastic N.V.1.04%
Permian Resources Corp.1.04%
Medpace Holdings, Inc.1.03%
Agilysys, Inc.1.03%
Paycom Software, Inc.1.03%
Arch Capital Group Ltd.1.03%
ExlService Holdings, Inc.1.03%
Clear Secure, Inc. (Class A)1.03%
Radian Group Inc.1.02%
Paymentus Holdings, Inc. (Class A)1.02%
Brinker International, Inc.1.02%
The New York Times Company (Class A)1.01%
Celsius Holdings, Inc.1.01%
The Ensign Group, Inc.1.01%
Paylocity Holding Corporation1.01%
UMB Financial Corporation1.01%
Hamilton Lane Incorporated (Class A)1.00%
The St. Joe Company1.00%
Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc.1.00%
Innoviva, Inc.1.00%
Mechanics Bancorp (Class A)1.00%

Only in ILCG

310 securities, 99.0% of ILCG by weight

NVIDIA15.40%
Apple8.12%
Broadcom Inc4.92%
Amazon.com Inc4.21%
Eli Lilly3.66%
Microsoft3.08%
Alphabet Class A3.01%
Advanced Micro Devices2.66%
Alphabet Class C2.43%
Tesla Inc2.26%
Micron Technology1.77%
Meta Platforms Class A1.59%
Palantir Technologies Class A1.32%
Visa Class A1.14%
Ge Aerospace1.01%
Applied Material Inc1.00%
Intel Corporation0.99%
Lam Research0.97%
Palo Alto Networks0.96%
Mastercard Class A0.94%
Netflix0.84%
Crowdstrike Holdings Class A0.80%
Ge Vernova0.74%
Walmart0.69%
Kla0.67%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.63%
Amphenol Corp Class A0.63%
Arista Networks0.56%
Marvell Technology0.55%
Welltower0.55%
Caterpillar Inc0.51%
Intuitive Surgical0.49%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC0.47%
Boeing0.44%
Western Digital Corp0.43%
Texas Instrument0.40%
Analog Devices0.35%
Servicenow0.35%
Oracle0.35%
Snowflake0.33%
Corning0.32%
Quanta Services Inc0.30%
Cadence Design Systems0.29%
Johnson Controls International PLC0.29%
Cloudflare Class A0.29%
Freeport Mcmoran Inc0.29%
Vertiv Holdings Class A0.28%
Dell Technologies Inc Class C0.28%
Fortinet0.27%
Motorola Solutions Inc0.26%

Weight gaps

All 15 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in FSGS and ILCG, widest gap first
Holding	More in FSGSMore in ILCG	FSGS	ILCG
Equifax Inc.EFX	FSGS +1.08 points	1.12%	0.04%
United Therapeutics CorporationUTHR	FSGS +1.06 points	1.10%	0.04%
Incyte CorporationINCY	FSGS +1.01 points	1.04%	0.03%
Cincinnati Financial CorporationCINF	FSGS +1.00 points	1.04%	0.04%
PTC Inc.PTC	FSGS +0.95 points	0.99%	0.04%
XPO, Inc.XPO	FSGS +0.93 points	0.99%	0.07%
MasTec, Inc.MTZ	FSGS +0.91 points	0.95%	0.04%
BWX Technologies, Inc.BWXT	FSGS +0.89 points	0.93%	0.04%
ResMed Inc.RMD	FSGS +0.88 points	0.94%	0.06%
Curtiss-Wright CorporationCW	FSGS +0.87 points	0.93%	0.06%
Woodward, Inc.WWD	FSGS +0.85 points	0.91%	0.06%
DexCom, Inc.DXCM	FSGS +0.84 points	0.94%	0.10%
EMCOR Group, Inc.EME	FSGS +0.83 points	0.92%	0.09%
MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.MTSI	FSGS +0.83 points	0.88%	0.05%
ATI Inc.ATI	FSGS +0.80 points	0.87%	0.07%

All 100 FSGS holdings⁠All 325 ILCG holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

FSGS vs ILCG Cost

Overpaying FSGS vs ILCG

$10,968

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

FSGS 0.60%
$11,817
ILCG 0.04%
$849

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FSGS 0.60%
ILCG 0.04%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FSGS	ILCG	Overpaying
10	$1,076	$73	$1,003
20	$4,116	$288	$3,828
30	$11,817	$849	$10,968

Expense ratio

0.60%FSGS
0.04%ILCG, cheaper

ILCG0.04%FSGS0.60%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

ILCG 2nd cheapest of 35 funds

FSGS 32nd cheapest of 35 funds

FSGS vs ILCG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FSGS 0.03%; ILCG 0.44%, better
Payout (12M): FSGS $0.01; ILCG $0.48
Last payment: FSGS $0.01; ILCG $0.14
Ex-dividend: FSGS Jun 25, 2026; ILCG Sep 15, 2026
Paid on: FSGS Jun 30, 2026; ILCG Sep 18, 2026
Frequency: FSGS Irregular; ILCG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

FSGSIrregular · 30 paymentsAll FSGS payments⁠

ILCGQuarterly · 40 paymentsAll ILCG payments⁠

FSGS vs ILCG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

FSGS
ILCG

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FSGS 16.3%, betterILCG 17.8%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FSGS 0.52ILCG 1.06, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FSGS −24.1%, betterILCG −35.4%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FSGS 0.99ILCG 1.23; Market = 1

FSGS and ILCG in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026ILCG

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