Which returned more over the last year, FTCS or SDY?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTCS returned +9.5% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, FTCS or SDY?

SDY is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do FTCS and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 100% of FTCS and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FTCS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FTCS returned +9.5% to SDY's +16.5%; 20% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $7.8bn for First Trust Capital Strength ETF and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

FTCS on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

+9.5%

FTCS total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.53%

FTCS expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SDY costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.0 points; SDY is 2.8 times larger.

FTCS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FTCS	SDY
Return
Measure	FTCS	SDY
Total return, 1 year	+9.5%	+16.5%
Benchmark
Measure	FTCS	SDY
What it tracks	Capital Strength Index	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	FTCS	SDY
Expense ratio	0.53%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$7.8bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	FTCS	SDY
Holdings in common	20%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	21.0%	20.4%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Jul 21, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,057 weekly returns

FTCS SDY

Return

Total return edge FTCS +596.7% +483.5%

Annualized edge FTCS (slight) +10.0% +9.1%

Price return edge FTCS +422.7% +183.1%

Risk

Volatility edge Tie 18.1% 17.7%

Max drawdown edge FTCS (slight) −52.7% −54.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge FTCS (slight) 0.53 0.48

Sortino edge FTCS (slight) 0.75 0.69

Calmar edge FTCS 0.19 0.17

Reading

FTCS returned more: +596.7% to +483.5%. FTCS and SDY swung about the same: 18.1% and 17.7%. FTCS fell slightly less at its worst: −52.7% to −54.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FTCS vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FTCS	SDY	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+596.7%	+483.5%	FTCS	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.0%	+9.1%	FTCS (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+422.7%	+183.1%	FTCS	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	18.1%	17.7%	Tie	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.8%	12.4%	SDY (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−52.7%	−54.4%	FTCS (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.48	FTCS (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.75	0.69	FTCS (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.19	0.17	FTCS	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,057 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

20%

By the books each fund has filed, FTCS and SDY hold 20% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

20% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first FTCS SDY

PepsiCo, Inc. 2.01% 1.82%

Target Corporation 1.89% 1.59%

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. 2.02% 1.55%

Lockheed Martin Corporation 2.25% 1.39%

The Procter & Gamble Company 1.98% 1.34%

The Coca-Cola Company 1.93% 1.23%

Colgate-Palmolive Company 1.95% 0.99%

PPG Industries, Inc. 2.08% 0.96%

Johnson & Johnson 2.08% 0.94%

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 2.04% 0.90%

Cincinnati Financial Corporation 2.11% 0.87%

Aflac Incorporated 2.02% 0.87%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in FTCS

3M Company 2.06%

Union Pacific Corporation 2.06%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated 2.06%

Amgen Inc. 2.04%

Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2.03%

Northern Trust Corporation 2.03%

Veralto Corporation 2.03%

The Home Depot, Inc. 2.02%

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

KENVUE INC 1.55%

KIMBERLY CLARK CORP 1.51%

NIKE INC CL B 1.51%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

FTCS First Trust Capital Strength ETF SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF

Issuer First Trust State Street

What it is Tracks an index Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year +9.5% +16.5%

Expense ratio 0.53% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 99.9% 84.4%

Holdings 50 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $7.8bn $21.9bn

FTCS and SDY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-9871E2D292

FTCS and SDY are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. FTCS follows Capital Strength Index and SDY follows S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index.
Holdings in common. 20% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FTCS returned +9.5% and SDY +16.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 7.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

FTCS

FTCS tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +9.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.53% 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 50 positions, with the top ten at 21.0%.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FTCS or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FTCS returned +9.5% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, FTCS or SDY?: SDY is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do FTCS and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 100% of FTCS and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

FTCS vs VOE FTCS vs IWS FTCS vs NOBL FTCS vs IJJ SDY vs VOE IVOV vs SDY PEY vs SDY SDY vs VFMF

Where to next

FTCS on its own →SDY on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →FTCS dividend history →FTCS holdings →SDY dividend history →SDY holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

FTCS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FTCS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

First Trust page for FTCS ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FTCS against SDY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ftcs-vs-sdy

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