Which is cheaper, SPY or SQMX?

SPY charges 0.09% a year and SQMX charges 0.85%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are SPY and SQMX the same kind of fund?

No. SPY is an index ETF and SQMX is a buffer 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

SPY vs SQMX: how they differ

SPY and SQMX are measured over different days, and SPY charges 0.09% against 0.85%.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly Max Buffer ETF.

SPY and SQMX on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	SQMX FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly Max Buffer ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	State Street	First Trust
What it is	S&P 500, book from IVV	Defined outcome, 13% on SPY
Total return, 1 year	+17.5%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	0.0 pts	not available
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.85%
Holdings	504	not filed

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%.

SQMX in plain words

From its price on Sep 12, 2026, the fund can gain about 0.9% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.0% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 2.3% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 12.6% of the 12.6% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 7 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Sep 18, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, SPY or SQMX?: SPY charges 0.09% a year and SQMX charges 0.85%, so SPY is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are SPY and SQMX the same kind of fund?: No. SPY is an index ETF and SQMX is a buffer 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.

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

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources