Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
SPY vs YMAX
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, SPY and YMAX hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Only in SPY | Only in YMAX |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA Corp. 7.52% | YieldMax AMD Option Income Strategy ETF 6.95% |
| Apple, Inc. 6.59% | Yieldmax Amzn Option Income ETF 5.36% |
| Microsoft Corp. 4.30% | Yieldmax Tsm Option Income Strategy ETF 5.01% |
| Amazon.com, Inc. 3.62% | YieldMax Crypto Industry & Tec 4.99% |
| Alphabet, Inc. 3.25% | YieldMax GOOGL Option Income S 4.88% |
| Broadcom, Inc. 2.77% | YieldMax MARA Option Income Strategy ETF 4.80% |
| Alphabet, Inc. 2.59% | YieldMax AI & Tech Portfolio Option Inco 4.72% |
| Micron Technology, Inc. 2.02% | YieldMax Semiconductor Portfolio Option 4.66% |
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 Apr 30, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026.
| SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | YMAX YieldMax(R) Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core fund | Income desk |
| Issuer | State Street | YieldMax |
| What it is | S&P 500, book from IVV | synthetic covered call, vs SPY |
| Total return, 1 year | +20.0% | +3.5% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +20.0% | +20.0% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +0.0 pts | −16.5 pts |
| Cash paid, 1 year | not an income fund | 40.0% |
| Expense ratio | not published | 1.33% |
| Holdings | 504 | n/a |
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%.
YMAX in plain words
Over the year to Sep 4, 2026, YMAX paid 40.0% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 38.7%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +3.5%. S&P 500 (SPY), used as a default proxy returned +20.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 16.5 pts. At its price on Sep 4, 2026 the latest distribution annualises to 40.6%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 43% of the distribution paid Sep 3, 2026 was a return of capital (19a-1 notice, estimated, a tax characterisation rather than a measure of erosion).
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SPY or YMAX?
- In the year to Sep 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SPY returned +20.0% and YMAX returned +3.5%, so SPY returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Are SPY and YMAX the same kind of fund?
- No. SPY is an index ETF and YMAX is an option-income 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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, SPY against YMAX, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/SPY-YMAX.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources