Which is cheaper, DMAX or SPY?

DMAX charges 0.50% a year and SPY charges 0.09%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are DMAX and SPY the same kind of fund?

No. DMAX is a buffer ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

DMAX vs SPY: how they differ

DMAX and SPY are measured over different days, and SPY charges 0.09% against 0.50%.

iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Dec ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

DMAX and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	DMAX iShares Large Cap Max Buffer Dec ETF	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Where it sits	Buffer ETF	Core index fund
Issuer	iShares	State Street
What it is	Defined outcome, 0% to 100% on IVV	S&P 500, book from IVV
Total return, 1 year	not published	+17.5%
S&P 500 over the same days	not published	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	not available	0.0 pts
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.09%
Holdings	not filed	504

DMAX in plain words

IVV had already risen past this fund's cap of +6.3% for the period on Sep 12, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 2.2% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 4.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, IVV can fall 10.5% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 99.5% of the 99.5% buffer still sits below today's IVV level. 112 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Dec 31, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

SPY in plain words

SPY is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 36.4%.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, DMAX or SPY?: DMAX charges 0.50% a year and SPY charges 0.09%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are DMAX and SPY the same kind of fund?: No. DMAX is a buffer ETF and SPY is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

DMAX against SPY, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, DMAX against SPY, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/DMAX-SPY Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources