Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
IWM vs SPY
iShares Russell 2000 ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, IWM and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in IWM | Only in SPY |
|---|---|
| Moog, Inc. 0.38% | NVIDIA Corp. 7.52% |
| Hut 8 Corp. 0.37% | Apple, Inc. 6.59% |
| Viasat, Inc. 0.35% | Microsoft Corp. 4.30% |
| BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. 0.35% | Amazon.com, Inc. 3.62% |
| Cytokinetics, Inc. 0.35% | Alphabet, Inc. 3.25% |
| MaxLinear, Inc. 0.34% | Broadcom, Inc. 2.77% |
| Argan, Inc. 0.34% | Alphabet, Inc. 2.59% |
| UMB Financial Corp. 0.33% | Micron Technology, Inc. 2.02% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings as filed for Jun 30, 2026.
| IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF | SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core fund | Core fund |
| Issuer | iShares | State Street |
| What it is | Russell 2000 | S&P 500, book from IVV |
| Total return, 1 year | +26.4% | +20.0% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +20.0% | +20.0% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +6.5 pts | +0.0 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.19% | not published |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| Holdings | 2014 | 504 |
IWM in plain words
IWM is a index equity fund tracking Russell 2000. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 it returned +26.4% with distributions reinvested, against +20.0% for the S&P 500 and +25.6% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2014 positions, with the top ten at 3.4%.
SPY in plain words
SPY is a index equity fund tracking S&P 500, book from IVV. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 it returned +20.0% with distributions reinvested, against +20.0% for the S&P 500 and +25.6% for the Nasdaq-100. 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 returned more over the last year, IWM or SPY?
- In the year to Sep 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWM returned +26.4% and SPY returned +20.0%, so IWM returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- How much do IWM and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 0% of IWM and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Other comparisons
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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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, IWM against SPY, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IWM-SPY.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources