At a glance
WOMN charges 0.75% a year, above the 0.1% average of the 8 funds most like it (the most expensive of 9). It has $55.1M in assets, the 9th largest of that group; it paid 0.81% of its price in distributions over the past 12 months, quarterly. Over the past year it returned +11.0% with distributions reinvested (S&P 500: +11.5%), 8th of those 9 funds; over three years it returned +18.1% a year. At its worst it fell 25.6% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 14 months after the low. Its ten largest positions make up 32.9% of the fund, out of 202 in all.
The short version
The YWCA Women's Empowerment ETF (WOMN) tracks the Morningstar Women's Empowerment Index. The index holds about 200 large and mid-sized US companies, chosen and weighted by gender-diversity scores from the research firm Equileap, while aiming to behave much like the broad US market. Its 0.75% expense ratio is far above the 0.10% average of similar funds. With about $55 million in assets as of June 30, 2026, it is also the smallest fund in its peer group.
Price history
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WOMN +11.0% over the year to Oct 27, 2026, total return with distributions reinvested.
How it has behaved
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | Since start | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOMN official prospectus, to Dec 31, 2025 | — | +8.44% | — | +10.74% | — | +14.04% |
| WOMN price data to Oct 27, 2026 | +10.9% | +11.0% | +18.1% | +8.4% | — | +14.9% |
- Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, WOMN returned +11.0%, 8th of 9 among similar funds.
- Its 5-year annualized return was +8.4%.
- Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-20.5%); its best was 2023 (+28.2%).
- The deepest fall in its price history was 25.8% (Nov 16, 2021 to Oct 12, 2022), recovered by Dec 18, 2023.
Show as a table
| Year | Price data | Prospectus (official) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +10.9% | — |
| 2025 | +8.6% | +8.44% |
| 2024 | +17.0% | +17.06% |
| 2023 | +28.2% | +28.30% |
| 2022 | -20.5% | -18.01% |
| 2021 | +24.9% | +24.70% |
| 2020 | — | +34.06% |
| 2019 | — | +30.80% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Not in the price data, which starts Jun 2, 2020 |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 25.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 25.6%, back to its old high 14 months after the low |
Dividends and income
Show as a table
| Year | Per share | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | $0.3500 | |
| 2025 | $0.3200 | -23.8% |
| 2024 | $0.4200 | -30.0% |
| 2023 | $0.6000 | -59.5% |
| 2022 | $1.4800 | +35.8% |
| 2021 | $1.0900 |
What's inside
As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 202 securities; the ten largest made up 32.88% of assets.
| Holding | Weight | |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | 4.86% | |
| Microsoft Corp | 4.52% | |
| NVIDIA Corp | 4.40% | |
| Cisco Systems Inc | 3.77% | |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co | 3.36% | |
| Verizon Communications Inc | 2.79% | |
| Texas Instruments Inc | 2.39% | |
| IBM | 2.34% | |
| Visa Inc | 2.30% | |
| Exxon Mobil Corp | 2.15% | |
| AbbVie Inc | 1.71% | |
| Analog Devices Inc | 1.67% | |
| Walmart Inc | 1.66% | |
| General Electric Co | 1.56% | |
| Bank of America Corp | 1.42% |
By country
United States 96.42%Ireland 2.42%Uruguay 0.33%United Kingdom 0.26%Australia 0.11%By asset type
Stocks 99.66%By sector
Sectors of the companies held, for the 87.4% of the fund in companies that have a stock page here; other holdings and cash aren't classified. Source: N-PORT holdings report as of Jun 30, 2026. Cash, money-market funds and derivatives are shown separately from the securities list.What changed recently
- Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $5.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
- Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +6.57%, +1.97%, -1.30%.
How it works
WOMN is an index fund. It aims to match the Morningstar Women's Empowerment Index, before fees, rather than beat it. Morningstar starts with its US Large-Mid Cap Index (the parent index), which covers about 90% of the US stock market by value. Equileap, a research firm, scores each company on how well it supports women at work and through its products. Companies in weapons, gambling or tobacco, on the Norwegian Ethics Council's exclusion list, or facing certain legal controversies are removed.
About 200 of the highest-scoring companies make the index. An optimizer, which is a computer model, sets the weights. It tilts toward better scores while keeping risk and return close to the parent index. It uses each company's score and size, with limits by company and sector, and no stock may exceed 5%. The index is rebalanced quarterly, and its membership is rebuilt once a year. As of June 30, 2026, the fund held 202 stocks, led by Alphabet (4.9%), Microsoft (4.5%) and NVIDIA (4.4%).
The fund normally keeps at least 80% of its assets in index stocks. It may hold a representative sample instead of every stock. That can widen tracking error, the gap between the fund's return and the index's return. The adviser expects that gap not to exceed 5% over time. The fund held no derivatives as of June 30, 2026.
What it really costs
- WOMN charges 0.75% a year, versus an average of 0.1% for the similar funds below (9th of 9, cheapest first).
- Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $77 in the first year and $930 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).
| Cost of $10,000 (SEC example) | 1 yr | 3 yrs | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOMN | $77 | $240 | $417 | $930 |
In a retirement portfolio
It holds about 200 large and mid-sized US stocks and is built to behave like the broad US market, with a women's-empowerment screen added on top.
WOMN could serve as a values-based version of a core US stock holding, but it falls as hard as the stock market does. It launched in 2018, so it has no record from 2008. It lost 17.91% in the first quarter of 2020, then gained 21.25% the next quarter. In the 2022 bear market it fell 25.6% between January 3 and October 12, 2022, and took about 14 months after that low to recover. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at −18.01%. Someone who had to sell shares in a year like that would lock in losses. Income is small: the yield was 0.81% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. Cost matters too. In the SEC's standard example, $10,000 would cost $930 over 10 years. Past results don't predict future returns, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.
Who it may suit — and who should look elsewhere
May suit
- Investors who want broad US large- and mid-cap stocks, chosen and weighted by Equileap's gender-diversity scores rather than by company size alone.
- People willing to pay a 0.75% fee, against a 0.10% peer average, so their stock holdings reflect women's empowerment goals.
- Holders who can sit through market-sized drops, like the 25.6% fall in 2022 that took about 14 months to recover.
Look elsewhere if
- Cost-focused investors: IVV and USPX charge 0.03%, while WOMN's SEC example shows $930 in costs over 10 years per $10,000.
- Income seekers, since the yield was 0.81% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly.
- Those who want a large fund: WOMN held about $55 million as of June 30, 2026, the smallest of nine similar funds.
Close alternatives
Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.
| Fund | Overlap | Cost | Net assets | 1 yr | 3 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOMN this fund | — | 0.75% | $55.1M | +11.0% | +18.1% |
| VIG Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF | 43% | 0.05% | $130.90B | +15.6% | +19.8% |
| MODL VictoryShares WestEnd U.S. Sector ETF | 40% | 0.46% | $1.02B | +11.9% | +23.8% |
| USCL iShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI… | 40% | 0.08% | $2.87B | +9.2% | +23.1% |
| IQSU IQ Candriam ESG U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF | 40% | 0.09% | $327.5M | +15.9% | +22.0% |
| USPX Franklin U.S. Equity Index ETF | 39% | 0.03% | $1.98B | +12.9% | +24.9% |
| BKLC BNY Mellon US Large Cap Core Equity ETF | 39% | 0% | $5.47B | +13.4% | +25.4% |
| SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 39% | 0.0945% | $781.19B | +11.5% | +21.9% |
Questions investors ask
What does the WOMN ETF invest in?
WOMN owns large and mid-sized US companies that score well on women's empowerment, based on ratings from the research firm Equileap. It tracks the Morningstar Women's Empowerment Index, which picks about 200 companies and excludes weapons, gambling and tobacco businesses. As of June 30, 2026, it held 202 stocks. The largest were Alphabet, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Cisco and JPMorgan Chase. Technology made up 25.8% of the fund and financials 13.9%.
Is WOMN expensive compared with other ETFs?
Yes. WOMN's expense ratio is 0.75%, based on its prospectus filed October 26, 2026. The similar funds it was compared with average 0.10%, and WOMN ranks 9th of 9 on cost. In the SEC's standard example, with $10,000 invested and a 5% yearly return, costs come to $77 after one year and $930 after 10 years. Funds like IVV charge 0.03%.
Does WOMN pay dividends?
Yes. WOMN pays dividends quarterly. Over the 12 months to October 27, 2026, it paid $0.37 per share, a yield of 0.81%. That is a small payout, because the fund chooses stocks by gender-diversity scores, not by dividend levels. Investors who rely on portfolio income would get little from this fund alone. Its appeal is mainly growth from US stocks with a values-based screen.
What's the difference between WOMN and VIG?
Of the funds compared, VIG has the most holdings in common with WOMN, at about 43% overlap. VIG is much cheaper and larger: it charges 0.05% against WOMN's 0.75%, and held $130.9 billion as of July 31, 2026, against WOMN's $55 million. VIG returned 15.6% over one year to October 30, 2026. WOMN returned 11.0% over one year to October 27. WOMN chooses its stocks by women's-empowerment scores rather than by VIG's approach.
How has WOMN performed over the long run?
WOMN has had solid long-run gains but has trailed cheaper US stock funds over the last three years. As of December 31, 2025, it returned 10.74% a year over five years and 14.04% a year since its 2018 launch. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at −18.01%. Over the three years to October 27, 2026, it returned 18.1% a year. IVV returned 23.6% a year over the three years to October 30, 2026.