Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
CAOS vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, CAOS returned +1.3% to SPY's +14.8%, and SPY charges 0.09% to CAOS's 0.63%.
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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $728m for Alpha Architect Tail Risk ETF and $804.8bn for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.54 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.5 points; SPY is far larger, $804.8bn against $728m.
| Measure | CAOS | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.3% | +14.8% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +1.3% | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | not published | S&P 500 Index |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.7% | |
| Against cash | 2.3 points behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.63% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $728m | $804.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 37.3% | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | −0.15 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | −0.01: about 0.01% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | rose 0.04% | |
| Down-week capture | −3.3% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.07% on average | |
Side by side
CAOS and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
CAOS
CAOS is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.15 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of −0.01, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.01% the other way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks CAOS rose 0.04% on average, a down-week capture of −3.3%. Over the same 52 weeks CAOS returned +1.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 2.3 percentage points behind cash.
SPY
SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested, against +14.8% 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 Nov 3, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 37.3%.
Questions people ask
- Are CAOS and SPY in the same category?
- CAOS is an alternatives ETF and SPY is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, CAOS or SPY?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CAOS returned +1.3% and SPY +14.8%.
- Which is cheaper, CAOS or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.54 percentage points a year. That is about $54 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, CAOS against SPY, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caos-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). CAOS against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caos-vs-spy
[CAOS against SPY (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/caos-vs-spy)
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