Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EWY vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EWY returned +79.7% to SPY's +13.6%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $24.4bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SPY costs 0.50 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 66.1 points; SPY is far larger, $810.0bn against $22.5bn.
| Measure | EWY | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +79.7% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.3%, high on Jun 18, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI Korea 25/50 Daily 25 Capped Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.59% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $22.5bn | $810.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 60.9% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 19, 2000 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,379 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: EWY against EEM, Apr 25, 2003 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
EWY returned more: +991.0% to +760.1%. SPY swung less: 17.5% to 31.1%. SPY fell less at its worst: −54.6% to −70.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EWY | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +991.0% | +760.1% | EWY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.4% | +8.5% | EWY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +683.3% | +438.5% | EWY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 31.1% | 17.5% | SPY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 21.2% | 12.4% | SPY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −70.1% | −54.6% | SPY | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 115.0% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 103.2% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.08 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.74 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.39 | 0.45 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.57 | 0.63 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.124 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.13 | 0.15 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | EEM | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.5% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.83 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −3.4% to +8.5% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.22 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 14.8% | 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, 1,379 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, EWY and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
EWY and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EWY and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EWY follows MSCI Korea 25/50 Daily 25 Capped Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EWY returned +79.7% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 66.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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EWY
EWY tracks the MSCI South Korea. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +79.7% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.59% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 78 positions, with the top ten at 60.9%. It sat 24.3% below its high of Jun 18, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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
- Which returned more over the last year, EWY or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EWY returned +79.7% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, EWY or SPY?
- SPY is cheaper, by 0.50 percentage points a year. That is about $50 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, EWY against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewy-vs-spy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). EWY against SPY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ewy-vs-spy
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