Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DECM vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DECM returned +6.1% to SPYM's +13.7%, and SPYM charges 0.02% to DECM's 0.85%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $35m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - December and $185.0bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPYM costs 0.83 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.6 points; SPYM is far larger, $185.0bn against $35m.
| Measure | DECM | SPYM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +6.1% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 11.9% | |
| Fund price fall to the buffer | 5.8% | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | S&P 500 Index |
| The outcome period | ||
| Buffer left, in index points | 50.6% of 50.6% | |
| Days left in the period | 51 | |
| Period ends | Dec 18, 2026 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.02% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $35m | $185.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 100% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 38.1% | |
Risk and return
Jan 3, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 94 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: DECM against SPY, Jan 3, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYM against IVV, Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPYM returned more: +31.1% to +11.6%. DECM swung less: 2.7% to 15.1%. DECM fell less at its worst: −2.9% to −16.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DECM | SPYM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +11.6% | +31.1% | SPYM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.2% | +16.2% | SPYM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +11.6% | +28.5% | SPYM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 2.7% | 15.1% | DECM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 1.7% | 10.0% | DECM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −2.9% | −16.8% | DECM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 15.2% | 94.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 18.3% | 96.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.17 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.95 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.77 | 0.80 | SPYM (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.21 | 1.21 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.121 | 0.106 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 2.17 | 0.96 | DECM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | SPY | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.01 | 0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.1% to +1.1% | −1.2% to +2.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.79 | 0.00 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 12.6% | 3.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 94 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
DECM and SPYM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DECM and SPYM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. DECM follows SPY and SPYM follows S&P 500 Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DECM returned +6.1% and SPYM +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.6 points.
- Cost. DECM charges 0.85% of assets a year and SPYM 0.02%, a gap of 0.83 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +7.0% for the period on Oct 28, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 0.9% as the period runs out.
The fund's price can fall 5.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 11.9% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 50.6% of the 50.6% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 51 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Dec 18, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.
SPYM
SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Are DECM and SPYM in the same category?
- DECM is a buffer ETF and SPYM 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, DECM or SPYM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DECM returned +6.1% and SPYM +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, DECM or SPYM?
- SPYM is cheaper, by 0.83 percentage points a year. That is about $83 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, DECM against SPYM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/decm-vs-spym
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DECM against SPYM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/decm-vs-spym
[DECM against SPYM (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/decm-vs-spym)
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