Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
CPSU vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CPSU returned +4.5% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to CPSU's 0.69%.
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Net assets: $29m on Oct 28, 2026 for Calamos S&P 500 Structured Alt Protection ETF - June, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.60 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.1 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $29m.
| Measure | CPSU | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +4.5% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 1.8% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 1.6% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Buffer left, in index points | 100.0% of 100.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 212 | |
| Period ends | May 28, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.69% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $29m | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Jun 13, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 71 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: CPSU against SPY, Jun 13, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +29.4% to +7.3%. CPSU swung less: 1.7% to 11.7%. CPSU fell less at its worst: −1.0% to −8.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CPSU | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +7.3% | +29.4% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +5.3% | +20.8% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +7.3% | +27.3% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.7% | 11.7% | CPSU | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.0% | 6.8% | CPSU | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −1.0% | −8.4% | CPSU | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 12.0% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 10.8% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.14 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.83 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.74 | 1.34 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.28 | 2.32 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.096 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 5.58 | 2.48 | CPSU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.8% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.30 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.1% to +0.4% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −1.42 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.1% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 71 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
CPSU and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
CPSU and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. CPSU follows SPY and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 CPSU returned +4.5% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.1 points.
- Cost. CPSU charges 0.69% of assets a year and SPY 0.09%, a gap of 0.60 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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CPSU
The fund's price can fall 1.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 1.8% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 100.0% of the 100.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 212 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On May 28, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
SPY
SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% 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 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Are CPSU and SPY in the same category?
- CPSU is a buffer 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, CPSU or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CPSU returned +4.5% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, CPSU or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.60 percentage points a year. That is about $60 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, CPSU against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cpsu-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). CPSU against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cpsu-vs-spy
[CPSU against SPY (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cpsu-vs-spy)
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