IYM vs VAW: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

IYMBNYSE Arca

Vanguard Materials ETF

VAWBNYSE Arca

Overlap

62.7%by weight

Expense ratio

VAW −0.28pt a year

IYM0.37%VAW0.09%

Avg volume · 30D

IYM 3.1×the volume

IYM198KVAW64.4K

10Y return · a year

IYM +0.5pt

IYM+10.6%VAW+10.1%

IYM vs VAW Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+46.1%IYM+34.0%VAW

Expense ratio: IYM 0.37%; VAW 0.09%, better
Fund size: IYM $1.28B; VAW $4.5B
1Y total return: IYM +27.6%, better; VAW +18.9%
Yield (12M): IYM 1.28%; VAW 1.39%, better
Holdings: IYM 43; VAW 113
Avg volume (30D): IYM 198K sh, better; VAW 64.4K sh
NAV per share: IYM $179.54; VAW $228.68
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for IYM, VAW, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	IYM	VAW
Cost30% weight	C50	A84Higher
Mission25% weight	Not scored	Not scored
Risk15% weight	B67Higher	B60
Tradability15% weight	B67Higher	C42
Holdings10% weight	D32	C50Higher
Durability5% weight	A74	A86Higher

Rank among Materials (Broad) funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. IYM and VAW are both graded against the same 14 Materials (Broad) funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Materials (Broad)⁠

Category · 14 funds

See all 14 ›

VAW ranks 3rd and IYM 5th of 14 funds in the Materials (Broad) Category.

Rank 1AXLBState Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETFScore 84
Rank 2AFMATFidelity MSCI Materials Index ETFScore 70
Rank 3BVAWVanguard Materials ETFScore 66
Rank 4BXMEState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETFScore 62
Rank 5BIYMiShares U.S. Basic Materials ETFScore 55
Rank 6CMXIiShares Global Materials ETFScore 54

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

IYMBiShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF

VAWBVanguard Materials ETF

In short

IYM A materials-sector original from June 2000, re-engineered in 2021 around a capped Russell 1000 index: roughly 40 U.S. chemical, metals and mining, and packaging names, with mid caps sitting beside the giants.

VAW Vanguard's materials aisle in one ticker: chemicals, packaging and metals, roughly 120 names deep, for 0.09% a year while the category norm sits several times higher.

Stated mandate

IYM The fund seeks to track an index composed of U.S. equities in the basic materials sector.

VAW The fund seeks to track a materials-sector equity benchmark through passive indexing and normally invests at least 80% of assets in the benchmark's stocks.

Why people hold it

IYM Launched June 2000, it has traded through a quarter century of commodity cycles and is a billion-dollar-plus fund today.blackrock.com
The index caps any single issuer at 22.5%, and all names above 4.5% at 45% combined, reset each quarterly rebalance, so one chemical giant cannot swallow the portfolio.blackrock.com sec.gov
Built from the Russell 1000, so mid caps qualify alongside the mega caps: roughly 40 holdings across metals, chemicals and forestry products. Pays quarterly.sec.gov ishares.com

VAW Charges 0.09% a year, several times below the median for broad materials funds. Cheap enough that cost stops being the argument.
Holds about 120 stocks from MSCI's US Investable Market materials index, so it reaches down the cap ladder instead of stopping at the biggest names.
Plain passive indexing, at least 80% in benchmark stocks, and it has tracked that benchmark closely. One of the stronger builds in the materials group.
Trading since 2004 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, run by Vanguard's index desk. Distributions arrive quarterly.

Worth knowing

IYM At 0.37% with no waiver, the fee lands near the category median, but XLB (0.08%), FMAT (0.084%) and VAW (0.09%) cover the same sector for a sliver of that.
Materials is a cyclical corner: results track commodity prices and global industrial demand, and with roughly 40 names, single-stock news lands hard.ishares.com
Trading is moderate rather than heavy for the category, so spreads and order type matter more than with the most heavily traded sector funds.

VAW One sector, and a cyclical one. Chemicals, miners and packagers ride construction and industrial demand, so swings run wider than a total-market fund.
Moderately traded rather than a volume monster, so spreads can widen in fast markets.
XLB and FMAT sit a basis point lower at 0.08%. A rounding error, but it exists.

Full IYM profile⁠

Full VAW profile⁠

IYM vs VAW Holdings

How IYM and VAW differ

Overlap by weight

62.7%

Shared holdings make up 84.5% of IYM and 65.5% of VAW.

Level by level

Holdings30 in both62.7%
Sector6 Sectors89.7%
Asset classEquity100%
Countryby domicile99.8%

Sector

Sector weights in IYM and VAW, widest gap first
Sector	More in IYMMore in VAW	IYM	VAW
Industrials	IYM +10.3 points	10.9%	0.6%
Consumer Discretionary	VAW +6.2 points	3.2%	9.4%
Materials	VAW +3.5 points	85.8%	89.4%
Health Care	VAW +0.5 points	0.0%	0.5%
Consumer Staples	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%
Energy	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in IYM and VAW, widest gap first
Country	More in IYMMore in VAW	IYM	VAW
United States	VAW +0.2 points	99.8%	100.0%
Canada	IYM +0.2 points	0.2%	0.0%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

IYM68.8%
VAW58.0%

Securities held

IYM40
VAW111

Asset class

IYM: Equity
VAW: Equity

Holdings

Only in IYM10
In both30
Only in VAW81

Only in IYM

10 securities, 15.4% of IYM by weight

Fastenal4.54%
Anglogold Ashanti PLC3.09%
Southern Copper Corp1.72%
Rbc Bearings1.50%
Carpenter Technology1.42%
Mueller Industries Inc1.23%
Timken0.74%
Hexcel0.61%
Aura Minerals Inc0.28%
Almonty Industries0.20%

Only in VAW

81 securities, 34.3% of VAW by weight

Sherwin-Williams Co/The5.13%
Crh PLC3.85%
Vulcan Materials Co2.21%
Martin Marietta Materials Inc2.00%
PPG Industries Inc1.62%
Smurfit Westrock PLC1.61%
Packaging Corp of America1.42%
Dow Inc1.38%
Amcor PLC1.35%
Amrize Ltd1.29%
Ball Corp0.99%
RPM International Inc0.85%
Crown Holdings Inc0.82%
SLBBH11420.59%
AptarGroup Inc0.54%
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd0.48%
Commercial Metals Co0.48%
Materion Corp0.38%
Balchem Corp0.37%
Eagle Materials Inc0.37%
Sonoco Products Co0.34%
Sensient Technologies Corp0.33%
Warrior Met Coal Inc0.32%
Cabot Corp0.28%
Perimeter Solutions Inc0.27%
Avient Corp0.26%
Silgan Holdings Inc0.21%
Constellium SE0.21%
Ashland Inc0.20%
Knife River Corp0.20%
Graphic Packaging Holding Co0.19%
USA Rare Earth Inc0.19%
HB Fuller Co0.18%
Ingevity Corp0.17%
Hawkins Inc0.17%
Century Aluminum Co0.17%
Kaiser Aluminum Corp0.16%
Innospec Inc0.16%
Quaker Chemical Corp0.15%
Chemours Co/The0.14%
Minerals Technologies Inc0.14%
Greif Inc0.13%
Perpetua Resources Corp0.13%
Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc0.12%
Huntsman Corp0.10%
Stepan Co0.09%
United States Lime & Minerals Inc0.08%
Ivanhoe Electric Inc / US0.08%
Worthington Steel Inc0.08%
Ecovyst Inc0.07%

Weight gaps

All 30 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in IYM and VAW, widest gap first
Holding	More in IYMMore in VAW	IYM	VAW
Linde PLCLIN	IYM +5.78 points	21.05%	15.27%
CortevaCTVA	VAW +2.79 points	0.82%	3.61%
EcolabECL	IYM +1.96 points	6.80%	4.84%
NewmontNEM	IYM +1.53 points	10.02%	8.49%
Steel Dynamics IncSTLD	IYM +1.10 points	3.21%	2.11%
International Flavors & FragrancesIFF	IYM +1.03 points	2.48%	1.45%
Air Products and ChemicalsAPD	IYM +1.00 points	5.04%	4.04%
Freeport Mcmoran IncFCX	IYM +1.00 points	8.00%	7.00%
NucorNUE	IYM +0.97 points	4.58%	3.61%
Reliance Steel & AluminumRS	IYM +0.95 points	2.32%	1.37%
International PaperIP	IYM +0.83 points	1.99%	1.16%
Lyondellbasell Industries Class ALYB	IYM +0.82 points	1.85%	1.03%
Cf Industries Holdings IncCF	IYM +0.74 points	1.97%	1.23%
Royal GoldRGLD	IYM +0.63 points	2.02%	1.39%
Avery Dennison CorpAVY	IYM +0.54 points	1.45%	0.91%
Cleveland Cliffs IncCLF	IYM +0.40 points	0.84%	0.44%
Solstice Advanced Materials IncSOLS	IYM +0.38 points	1.00%	0.62%
Alcoa CorpAA	IYM +0.31 points	1.08%	0.77%
Eastman ChemicalEMN	IYM +0.27 points	0.79%	0.52%
Albemarle CorpALB	IYM +0.25 points	1.12%	0.87%
Element Solutions IncESI	IYM +0.24 points	0.82%	0.58%
Celanese CorpCE	IYM +0.22 points	0.56%	0.34%
Coeur MiningCDE	IYM +0.14 points	1.40%	1.26%
Scotts Miracle GroSMG	IYM +0.13 points	0.29%	0.16%
MosaicMOS	IYM +0.13 points	0.61%	0.48%
Mp Materials Class AMP	IYM +0.12 points	0.59%	0.47%
Hecla MiningHL	IYM +0.10 points	0.89%	0.79%
Westlake CorpWLK	IYM +0.09 points	0.23%	0.14%
Olin CorpOLN	IYM +0.09 points	0.21%	0.12%
NewmarketNEU	IYM +0.03 points	0.50%	0.47%

All 40 IYM holdings⁠All 115 VAW 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.

IYM vs VAW Cost

Overpaying IYM vs VAW

$5,615

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

IYM 0.37%
$7,513
VAW 0.09%
$1,898

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

IYM 0.37%
VAW 0.09%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	IYM	VAW	Overpaying
10	$670	$165	$505
20	$2,590	$646	$1,944
30	$7,513	$1,898	$5,615

Expense ratio

0.37%IYM
0.09%VAW, cheaper

VAW0.09%IYM0.37%

0.08%0.99%

Middle half of Materials (Broad) funds
Median 0.37%

VAW 3rd cheapest of 14 funds

IYM 7th cheapest of 14 funds

IYM vs VAW Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): IYM 1.28%; VAW 1.39%, better
Payout (12M): IYM $2.30; VAW $3.18
Last payment: IYM $0.59; VAW $0.78
Ex-dividend: IYM Sep 15, 2026; VAW Sep 23, 2026
Paid on: IYM Sep 18, 2026; VAW Sep 25, 2026
Frequency: IYM Quarterly; VAW Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

IYMQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll IYM payments⁠

VAWQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll VAW payments⁠

IYM vs VAW Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: IYM 17.7%VAW 17.3%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: IYM 0.65, betterVAW 0.54
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: IYM −29.9%VAW −25.5%, better
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: IYM 0.88VAW 0.98; Market = 1

Popular comparisons

IYMBvsXLBA
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF · State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF
Expense ratio
0.37% · 0.08%
Category
VAWBvsXLBA
Vanguard Materials ETF · State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF
Expense ratio
0.09% · 0.08%
Category
IYMBvsFMATA
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF · Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF
Expense ratio
0.37% · 0.08%
Category
VAWBvsFMATA
Vanguard Materials ETF · Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF
Expense ratio
0.09% · 0.08%
Category
IYMBvsXMEB
iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF · State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF
Expense ratio
0.37% · 0.35%
Category
VAWBvsXMEB
Vanguard Materials ETF · State Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF
Expense ratio
0.09% · 0.35%
Category