Which is cheaper, SPY or STEN?

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

Are SPY and STEN the same kind of fund?

No. SPY is an index ETF and STEN 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 STEN: how they differ

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

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and iShares Large Cap 10% Target Buffer Sep ETF.

SPY and STEN on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	STEN iShares Large Cap 10% Target Buffer Sep ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Buffer ETF
Issuer	State Street	iShares
What it is	S&P 500, book from IVV	Defined outcome, 0% to 10% on IVV
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%	0.50%
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%.

STEN in plain words

From its price on Sep 12, 2026, the fund can gain about 3.8% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 11.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, IVV can fall 12.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 9.5% of the 9.5% buffer still sits below today's IVV level. 20 days remained on Sep 12, 2026. On Sep 30, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

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

Other comparisons

Where to next

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

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources