Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
DDTL vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, DDTL returned +9.5% to SPY's +14.8%, and SPY charges 0.09% to DDTL's 0.79%.
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Net assets: $90m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator Equity Dual Directional 10 Buffer ETF - Jul, and $804.8bn on Nov 3, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.70 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.3 points; SPY is far larger, $804.8bn against $89m.
| Measure | DDTL | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +9.5% | +14.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 2.6% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 3.0% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 11.8% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 10.0% of 10.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 238 | |
| Period ends | Jun 30, 2027 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $89m | $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 and return
Jul 11, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 68 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: DDTL against SPY, Jul 11, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 30, 2026.
From Jul 2025 to Oct 2026, SPY returned more: +22.8% to +13.2%. DDTL swung less: 5.0% to 11.6%. DDTL fell less at its worst: −3.5% to −8.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DDTL | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +13.2% | +22.8% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.9% | +17.0% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +13.2% | +21.2% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 5.0% | 11.6% | DDTL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 3.0% | 6.9% | DDTL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −3.5% | −8.4% | DDTL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 35.1% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 40.3% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.39 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.79 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.14 | 1.08 | DDTL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.91 | 1.81 | DDTL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.148 | 0.132 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 2.83 | 2.03 | DDTL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.9% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.42 | −0.52 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.2% to +4.9% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.92 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.4% | 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, 68 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
DDTL and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
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DDTL
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 11.8% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 3.0% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 2.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 238 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jun 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
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 DDTL and SPY in the same category?
- DDTL 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, DDTL or SPY?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DDTL returned +9.5% and SPY +14.8%.
- Which is cheaper, DDTL or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.70 percentage points a year. That is about $70 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, DDTL against SPY, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ddtl-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). DDTL against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ddtl-vs-spy
[DDTL against SPY (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ddtl-vs-spy)
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