{"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy","section":"compare","title":"CTA vs SPY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees | ETFIQ","description":"CTA vs SPY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +13.6%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.09%. One alternatives ETF and one stock ETF.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Are CTA and SPY in the same category?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"CTA 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."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which returned more over the last year, CTA or SPY?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CTA returned +18.4% and SPY +13.6%."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper, CTA or SPY?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SPY is cheaper, by 0.66 percentage points a year. That is about $66 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"CTA vs SPY","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"CTA vs SPY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"CTA vs SPY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +13.6%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.09%. One alternatives ETF and one stock ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy","dateModified":"2026-10-28","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"Dataset","name":"ETFIQ comparison of CTA and SPY","description":"CTA vs SPY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +13.6%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.09%. One alternatives ETF and one stock ETF.","dateModified":"2026-10-28","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"inLanguage":"en","creativeWorkStatus":"Published","distribution":[{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/alternatives.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/core.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/crypto.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/funds.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/income.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/leverage.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json"}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"CTA vs SPY","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"CTA vs SPY: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"CTA vs SPY to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +13.6%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.09%. One alternatives ETF and one stock ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy","dateModified":"2026-10-28","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":4130,"truncated":true,"content":"ETFIQ / Compare ETFs / CTA vs SPY \n \n Data as of Oct 28, 2026.\n ETFIQ etfiq.com \u00b7 independent ETF data \n CTA vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees\n Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CTA returned +18.4% to SPY's +13.6%, and SPY charges 0.09% to CTA's 0.75%.\n Copy this for sharing \n SPY costs 0.66 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.8 points; SPY is far larger, $814.8bn against $1.4bn.\n CTA and SPY at a glance. As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. CTA SPY \n Expense ratio 0.75% 0.09% \n Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.4bn $814.8bn \n Total return, 1 year +18.4% +13.6% \n What it tracks","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, CTA against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy","a":{"ticker":"CTA","name":"Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF","issuer":"Simplify","desk":"alternatives","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CTA returned 18.4%. When the S&P 500 fell, it rose 0.40% a week.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/cta","key_facts":[{"label":"Correlation with the S&P 500","value":"\u22120.19","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Beta to the S&P 500","value":"\u22120.36","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Down-week capture","value":"\u221236.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Against T-bills, 52 weeks","value":"+13.7 pts","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"12-month yield, capital gains included, on its starting price","value":"5.8%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and distributions"},{"label":"Last payment (paid monthly), ex-date Oct 27, 2026","value":"$0.13","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"Tiingo end-of-day distributions"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$1.4bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"issuer page, as of Oct 27, 2026"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.75%","as_of":"2025-10-31","source":"497 XBRL, Oct 31, 2025"}]},"b":{"ticker":"SPY","name":"SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust","issuer":"State Street","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"SPY tracks the S&P 500 and returned +13.6% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/spy","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+13.6%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.09%","as_of":"2026-01-26","source":"485BPOS, Jan 26, 2026"},{"label":"Holdings","value":"504","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s daily holdings file"},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u22120.9%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"12-month yield, capital gains included, on its starting price","value":"1.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and distributions"},{"label":"Last payment (paid quarterly), ex-date Sep 18, 2026","value":"$1.8888","as_of":"2026-09-18","source":"Tiingo end-of-day distributions"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$814.8bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 27, 2026"}]},"overlap_pct":null,"overlap_note":"ETFIQ does not publish a holdings overlap for this pair. Either the funds are not compared on holdings, or one book is incomplete.","full_text_at":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-spy"}