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BAFE vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees

BAFE and SPY hold 29% of their weight in the same names, and SPY returned +17.3% over the year. Net assets: $1.7bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF, and $817.2bn on Oct 8, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

SPY costs 0.45 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.0 points; SPY is far larger, $781.2bn against $1.7bn.

BAFE vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
BAFESPY
Expense ratio0.54%0.09%
Net assets, as of Jun 30, 2026$1.7bn$781.2bn
Total return, 1 year+12.3%+17.3%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedS&P 500 Index
Holdings in common29%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund42.2%39.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

+12.3%
BAFE total return, 1 year
+17.3%
SPY total return, 1 year
0.54%
BAFE expense ratio
0.09%
SPY expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, BAFE and SPY hold 29% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 8, 2026.

half

29% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding BAFE SPY
MICROSOFT CORPORATION 4.85% 5.80%
AMAZON.COM, INC. 4.33% 3.73%
NVIDIA CORPORATION 3.06% 8.34%
ALPHABET INC. 4.04% 3.06%
ALPHABET INC. 3.83% 2.45%
META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.64% 2.38%
APPLE INC. 1.69% 7.42%
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 3.33% 1.42%
VISA INC. 4.07% 0.96%
MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 3.52% 0.69%
BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION 1.66% 0.52%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED 3.24% 0.50%
Only in BAFE
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited 7.09%
Suncor Energy Inc. 2.24%
Amer Sports, Inc 1.80%
SAP SE 1.49%
SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY S.A. 1.34%
US FOODS HOLDING CORP. 1.33%
WATSCO, INC. 1.20%
Nomad Foods Limited 0.48%
Only in SPY
BROADCOM INC 2.56%
MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 1.75%
TESLA INC 1.58%
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.51%
ELI LILLY + CO 1.40%
JPMORGAN CHASE + CO 1.32%
EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.04%
JOHNSON + JOHNSON 0.92%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

BAFE
Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF
SPY
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer BROWN State Street
What it is Actively managed Tracks the S&P 500
Total return, 1 year +12.3% +17.3%
Its benchmark over the same days +17.3% (VOO) +17.3% (VOO)
Gap to its benchmark −5.0 pts vs VOO −0.1 pts vs VOO
Expense ratio 0.54% 0.09%
Already in the S&P 500 77.5% 99.8%
Holdings 44 504
Net assets, BAFE as of Jun 30, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 8, 2026 $1.7bn $817.2bn

BAFE and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About BAFE

BAFE is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.54% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 78% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 42.2%.

About SPY

SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 8, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BAFE or SPY?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BAFE returned +12.3% and SPY +17.3%.
Which is cheaper, BAFE or SPY?
SPY is cheaper, by 0.45 percentage points a year. That is about $45 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do BAFE and SPY overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 78% of BAFE and 100% of SPY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
BAFE vs IVVBAFE vs VOOBAFE vs VTIBAFE vs SPYMQVML vs SPYQUS vs SPYEPS vs SPYQDPL vs SPY
BAFE on its own →SPY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
BAFE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗BAFE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗BROWN website ↗SPY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗State Street website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BAFE against SPY, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bafe-vs-spy

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.